The Soul Reaper of Konoha
by Reven of Darkness
Summary: A/U Due to a incident, Naruto ends up gaining the powers of a Soul Reaper and ends up trying to balance his Ninja life completing missions and his Soul Reaper life hunting down Hollows. Raiting may change due to violence. No pairings till next installment
1. Birth of a New Reaper

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment**

A/N: This is my first ever fic so if it sucks you will know why.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

Birth of a New Reaper

All was quiet and peaceful in the village hidden in the leave also known as Konoha. The sky was cloudless as the moonlight from the moon illuminating the entire village in the soft moonlight glow around the buildings and the trees, the Hokage Monument was alight showing the faces of the four Hokages of Konoha clearly to the sleeping village. The moonlight however was disturbed by two back spots appearing on the moon. Two beams from the darkness strike the ground below as from the dust appears two horrible looking monsters covered in darkness both with holes in the middle of their chest and bright yellow eyes full of hate and hunger. As the monsters disappeared from sight a lone figure is standing on top of the Hokage tower looking down at the two monsters as they vanished from sight.

"I see. So they have found a way into this world too. Guess I will just have to stop them." The figure said to himself as he jumped off the tower after the monsters.

* * *

Today was already a bad day for Naruto. First he had been late for the academy, then he got chased by the villagers for the umpteenth time since he could remember, he then went home to check on his apartment to see it was broken into and trashed again. But this really did it for him, Ichiraku was closed for two WHOLE DAYS! It was official, today was one of the worst days that could happen to him. As he was walking around aimlessly as well as ignoring the glares he was getting from the villagers, he was lost in his thoughts.

_"What to do, what to do? I am so BORED!" _He thought to himself when he found himself in front of the Hokage tower.

_"Well I do need to see Jiji-san about my apartment."_

As he walked up the stairs towards the offices he looked at the Hokage Monument thinking, _"Someday I will have my face on there with the other Hokages."_ Smiling to himself at the thought he walked to the Secretary, one of the few people to treat him like a person. He saw her smile at him as he approached her desk.

"Good afternoon Naruto-kun. The Hokage is in his office doing paperwork as usual. You can go in and see him if you like." She said to Naruto with a smile on her face.

"Hi Atsuko-chan. And thank you for letting me in to see Jiji-san. See you later." He runs to the door and quickly opens to enter the Hokage's office.

_"Such a sweet boy. I wish more people saw him for who he is instead of his tenant."_ Atsuko thought to herself before returning to her work.

"JIJI-SAN! I have something to ask you." Naruto basically screamed as he ran into the office of The Third Hokage.

"Naruto. There is no need to shout. I am right here and can hear perfectly well thank you." The Hokage looked up at Naruto from his dreaded paperwork thankful that he visited him for two reasons. One was that he enjoyed Naruto's company. The second was anything that distracted him from the hell that he called PAPERWORK was in his eyes always thankful.

"Sorry Jiji-san." He looked down apologising to him.

"That is quite alright Naruto. It is always a pleasure when you visit. Now what did you want to ask me?" He replied with a smile and a kind tone in his voice.

"Oh right. Urm my apartment has been trashed again. Could you sort out someone to fix it up please?" Naruto looked at him almost pleading with him.

_"Again? Damn them for their stupidity."_ He sighed and looked at him. "Of course Naruto. I will get someone on to it right away."

"Thanks Jiji-san. The usual few hours to wait then?" He looked at the Hokage hoping that they would fix his apartment quicker this time.

* * *

Naruto was now walking around aimlessly, waiting for the Hokage's messenger to inform him that his apartment was ready and that he could go back to it and put everything back in its place. However he had now been walking and waiting for three hours now and it was starting to make the young ninja in training impatient. As he suddenly realised where he was walking, he found himself in the market district of the village.

_"Well, there is no reason for me to even be h..."_

The next thing anyone in the market heard was a large explosion from a nearby building. Everyone was running away from the building, screaming trying to get away in case the building collapsed, when another explosion in the next building before suddenly spider cracks appeared on the floor right just in front of Naruto, who was too scared to do anything just stared at the site in front of him wondering if this was the reason everyone was running away.

In front of him was in his eyes a monster. It looked human but it stood as high as a two story building, with dark brown skin covering its body apart from a hole right in the middle of its chest, its face was covered by what could be described as a white tribal mask with black markings on it only showing the eyes. The eyes so full of hate, pain and hunger. Naruto looked at where the spider cracks before seeing the cause of it. A man at lease in his 20's was there with that monsters fist on top of him.

The man had green hair all spiked up but was covered in streaks of his own blood, his nose looked like it had been broken as well as his face was covered in cuts and gashes covering his face in blood. The man was wearing what looked like a Shihakusho that was ripped in places with wounds showing and with blood coming out of them wounds. The sword that the man had looked like a Samurai sword that could cut through anything that touched it. The man looked like he was in pain and in need of help, as a result Naruto just reacted and jumped towards the monsters hand pulling out his kunai and with all his might stabbed the hand.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Naruto screamed as the monster recoiled at the sudden pain in his hand before fading away into nothing leaving Naruto and the strange man alone. As he rushed to see if he could help, Naruto watched as the strange man was slowly sitting up but was having difficulty breathing.

"Easy there. You're safe from whatever that thing was." Naruto told him putting his kunai away in his pouch.

"Lis...listen to...me...young one. There is...no time. You must...take my sword and..."

Naruto looked at the man as he stopped speaking and his eyes glazed over as suddenly a spike pushed through the man's chest, as he breathed his last breath before being tossed away by another monster. This one looked more like a scorpion with a white mask to match but them horrible yellow eyes were the same. Hatred, pain and hunger. This monster dived at Naruto to try and kill him. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the pain to come.

What felt like a minute pass made Naruto open his eyes and see that time had slowed down for him, he looked around and seen that it was effecting everything around him. As he wondered what was happening to him he heard a voice inside of his head speaking too him.

**"So it looks like you have been chosen, hey kit?"**

_"W...who's there? What do you want?" _Naruto asked almost too frightened thinking he was going insane.

**"Ahhhh yes you don't know do you? Well then let me just say you are talking to the Kyūbi no Youko."** The Kyūbi stated

_"B...but you're..." _However Naruto was cut off.

**"Yes yes I know. 'But you're meant to be dead as The Forth Hokage killed you!' I can tell you first hand that is a load of bullshit kit. Now listen we don't have much time. If you don't want to die, and I know I do not want too, then you need to take that sword and stab yourself with it right through your soul. Do you understand?" **The Kyūbi said as fast as he could with the little time they had left.

_"But I will die if I do thought. Won't I?" _Naruto asked timidly not wanting to die.

**"Well...there is a slight chance you will if it does not work but you have to trust me. Oh and make sure that dead Soul Reaper is holding onto the handle of it as well. Now, HURRY UP!" **Kyūbi said as time slowly started to return to normal.

As fast as Naruto could, he grabbed the sword off the ground and held the point against his chest with one hand as the other hand made sure the dead man was holding onto the sword as well. Naruto was about to do as asked when he realised something.

_"Hey what's a Soul Reaper?"_ Naruto asked.

**"JUST STAB YOURSELF WITH THE SWORD BEFORE WE BOTH DIE KIT!" **Shouted the Kyuubi as he was thinking as his eye twitched, _**"Here we are both about to die when he asks me questions, when I even said there is NO TIME! Why did I get sealed inside an idiot?"**_

Without another moment's hesitation Naruto thrust the sword through his chest right into his soul. The first thing he felt was the pain, pain like nothing he had ever felt before as it felt like his soul was being ripped apart. Thinking he had messed up he suddenly felt a warn feeling over him as he started to glow white. Time returned to normal as the monster stopped blinded by the light before it screamed in pain as its tail was cut off.

As it turned to see what had dared stop it hunting its prey it froze in what the monster had not felt in a long time. Fear. Stood there was his prey but he was different. Naruto was now dressed like the dead Soul Reaper with a Shihakusho on him. His feet had the traditional sandals that the traditional Samurai wore with white socks on. In his hand Naruto noticed was a sword like the dead man's sword but instead of the hilt having diamond shapes on it, it had the swirls that Naruto normally wears.

Standing there staring at the monster before him all he said was nine words that caused, if at all possible, more fear in the monster.

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"

* * *

That the first chapter done. Hope everyone likes it. If not well I will just have to try harder than *smiles*. The next one if you want me to continue should be up in the next few days (I hope). Constructive reviews welcome. Flames will just be ignored or laughed at by me and my camel Steven.

Atsuko: Japanese name meaning 1) "kind child" or 2) "warm child."

Reven of Darkness


	2. New Strengths

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: OK I had near 300 views but only TWO REVIEWS? Come on people. I know what I said about flamers that me and my camel Steven would laugh at them, but if it is nice I would like to read what you say. If it is ideas or constructive criticism then I would like to read it so I can get better with your help.

Anyway on with the story.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

New Strengths

The Hollow just looked on before snapping out of his fear and diving towards his pray, his mouth open wide ready to take a bite out of Naruto so that it can claim its reward. _**"Two Soul Reapers to eat. How delightful."**_ He know how close he was and this new Soul Reaper still did not move from his spot, the Hollow wondered why but instinct took over him making him charging faster ready to devour him. Next thing he knew, the blond haired Soul Reaper disappeared. Before it could think as to where his prey had gone, pain spread through the Hollows body as he felt the blade of Soul Reaper cut deep into his back. He found said Soul Reaper behind him, with his blood on his sword, as he felt his own blood seep out of his wound going down his body and hitting the floor.

Naruto just stared at the monster, ready to kill it if it tried to attack again. The monster suddenly moved to attack him again as he got into a defensive stance, placing his sword in front of him. He heard the Kyuubi in his head, **"Kit aim for its head. Cut its head off and you will kill it."**

He just nods seeing the monster get closer, his body moves on its own again ducking under the monster's attack as his arm moves, slashing at its neck, removing the head clean from the body as his new reactions move him away in case the body fell on him trapping him. He looks in surprise as he sees the body and head slowly fade away into nothing. Slowly he walks to where the body was, still weary in case it was somehow still alive, as he hears a low roar and a fist suddenly appear out of thin air trying to punch him. His reactions take over as he jumped above the hand, swinging his sword down cleaving the hand right off the arm as he hears a roar, blood flies out where he cut as the second monster appears in front of him like it was screaming. He just looked at it with a hard glare as he jumped at it aiming for its head.

The second Hollow realised what this Soul Reaper was doing and retaliated by swinging his arm down to try and grab him with his hand and crush him before eating him. Naruto saw what it was doing and pointed his sword towards the monsters hand, piercing the monsters left palm right through. He then quickly jumped, pushing off the hand ripping his sword out of the palm and swung with all his new found strength slicing the monster right down the middle. As Naruto landed and sheathed his sword, the monster suddenly split into two pieces as blood flowed from the cut as it slowly started to fade just like the other one.

"Wow. Did...I just do that?" He said to himself in both shock and wonder.

Clap. Clap. Clap. "That you did and I must say, I am impressed, for one as I have not seen anyone who has not only just received a Soul Reaper's power beat two Hollows so fast. But you have adapted to the power of the Soul Reaper so quickly."

Naruto's new instincts took over as he drew his sword from his sheath and slipped into an attack stance. "OK first off who are you? Second what are Soul Reapers? And third what are Hollows?"

"My my. Agitated are we? Relax I am not going to attack you." He said with a smile.

"You still did not answer my questions. So start talking" Naruto demanded from the man.

"OK then but if I tell you my name, you have to tell me yours. It is how proper introductions are done. And since you want to know who I am so badly I will tell you. I am Kisuke Urahara. Now what would your name be?" He tipped his hat slightly at Naruto.

Slowly but still unsure, Naruto lowered his guard and spoke slowly. "Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto took this chance to inspect the man before him. He saw that he was a tall light-skinned man, with messy light blond, but almost pale, coloured hair judging from the hair that was allowing some hair on show. He had grey eyes but they were almost covered by his hat, which was a green and white stripped bucket hat. He was wearing the traditional Japanese wooden sandals, a set of dark green pants with matching dark green shirt and a dark greyish-green coat, having large white diamond patterns along its bottom half from what he could see from the front. He also noticed that he was holding a cane, though it did not look like he need it, it looked more like it was for show than anything else.

"And your second and third question, I will explain both too you. First off there are two types of spirits you should know about. The first are good spirits or as we call them Wholes. The second are bad spirits or as well call them Hollows. Hollows enter the world of the living to attack living people and spirits, to feed on their souls. Following me so far?" Urahara asked and smiled when Naruto nodded "Wonderful. OK the Hollows where them monsters that you killed or exorcised before."

"You mean too tell me that them monsters attack people and spirits just too eat their souls?" Naruto's faced was a mixture of horror and disgust.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Now then as for Soul Reapers well they have two main jobs. The first job is to find the Wholes and preform Konso on them so they can be led to The Soul Society or afterlife if you prefer. The second job is to exorcise the Hollows where ever they are in the living world and when they enter the living world to stop them from eating more innocent souls." Urahara explained without emotion on his face.

"Wow that sounds tough to be honest." Naruto said looking at Urahara now knowing what is going on.

"Yep, you could say that kid." Urahara said bursting into a sudden bright smile as he pulled out a fan.

_"This guy has more mood changes then any person in this village." _Naruto shook himself from his thoughts quickly. "OK but what does this have to do with me?"

"Well," Urahara started, looking right at Naruto making him shift under his gaze, "since you ended up transferring his power," he pointed at the dead Soul Reaper still on the ground then towards Naruto, "to you, I say that makes you a Soul Reaper now kid. Congratulations!" He explained as he pulled out some party blowers and blew into them before popping some party poppers over Naruto.

_"Is this guy for REAL?" _Naruto started having a twitch in his right eye at Urahara's actions.

**"Kit I know what you're thinking, and believe me I am thinking the same thing too. But this Urahara is knowledgeable. It would be wise to trust him. Even if he acts like an idiot." **The Kyuubi said in Naruto's mind after seeing what Urahara was doing.

_"OK, if you think it is wise Kyuubi."_ Naruto just sighed in his head.

"So what you're saying is I am a Soul Reaper now. And I have to help Wholes pass on to this Soul Society and exorcise Hollows to stop them from hurting people?" He just looked as Urahara finally calmed down from his antics.

"That is basically it. But the strange thing is Hollows, Soul Reapers, hell even me are not meant to be in this world." Urahara explained.

"Hang on. Are you saying you are from another world?" Naruto blurted out and stared at Urahara.

"Yes. That is right. Somehow the Hollows have gained more strength and power than normal. Normally they get a few souls and feed on them, not really making them stronger but just satisfying their hunger. But a few of them have taken the souls of Soul Reapers. Now this gives them a sort of power boost, making them stronger. One must have eaten a good number of Soul Reapers too allow them to pass through dimensions. Normally when someone has the idea of dimension travel, they think it would be wise to develop a way to input a destination device so they know where they are going or they could end up in space suddenly. But that only happens in stories. The Hollows are not really that intelligent, so they must have ended up opening up a new route to somewhere different by accident, not knowing where it would take them. Unfortunately for you and your world it looks like the route they opened up took them here." He emphasised his statement by pointing downwards to the ground while looking at Naruto.

"But...you said Soul Reapers exorcise Hollows, right?" Naruto looked worried.

"Yes. However some Soul Reapers get cocky thinking they can beat any Hollow, or are new and get picked off quickly. But the point is they have opened up your world and connected it to our world. I don't know if there is a way to seal this route off now, but it seems more routes are opened to this world by the Hollows, wanting to feed here. And as you can see, the Soul Reapers found out about this and sent someone to investigate what is happening. So for now at least your world and my world are firmly connected." Urahara just looked down to the ground.

"So the Hollows will keep coming?" Naruto asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Unfortunately, yes they will. But," He suddenly looked up with a big grin plastered on his face and pointed to Naruto, "you are now a Soul Reaper. So you can deal with Hollows and if they kill anyone you can perform Konso on them and help them pass on."

"Well what about my ninja career? I cannot just give that up. I cannot give up my dream of being the greatest Hokage this village has ever had." Naruto just looked heartbroken at this time.

"Did I say for you to give up your life? I did not. You can still do your ninja career. So don't worry about it." He saw that Naruto looked relived. "Now then, I have two gifts for you. The first is this." he hands Naruto what looks like a tag with a skull surrounded by fire. "If you're wondering what this is, it is a tag that will allow you to leave your body when there is a Hollow attack nearby, or when there is a spirit that needs help to pass on to the Soul Society. The next gift is this," he hands him a flip mobile phone. "This is called a Soul Pager and it will help you as it will show you when and where Hollows will attack that are near to where you are. Normally they will activate about say five minutes before an attack is due to happen. Giving you plenty of time to get ready to deal with said Hollow."

Naruto looked at the two items before walking towards his body and placing them in his pockets. "Thanks but urm, what about training?"

"Oh well since you took all of the Soul Reapers powers it is like you have gone through the training yourself." He just smiled at Naruto. "Everything he learned, you will know. But your Zanpakutō will be your own, as with all Soul Reapers. And before you ask your sword is your Zanpakutō."

Naruto just nods slowly at him. "Well thank you Kisuke Urahara." He smiles at him as he holds out his hand.

"You are welcome Naruto Uzumaki." He shakes Naruto's hand with a smile. "Now I will take our young Soul Reaper here and give him a proper sending off." Urahara walks and picks up the body of the young Soul Reaper, placing him on his back. "I must return to my world now. But I will come back and see how you are doing. See you soon Naruto" He slowly waves his hand as an opening appears before he walks through it and it closes off.

Without another thought, Naruto ran and picks up his body as he bursts in a flash of light and enters his body. He slowly wakes up and runs back to his apartment, knowing it will be done by now. As he reaches it he bursts inside and closes the door, locking it behind him. He leans on the door as he slowly pulls out the two items he was given not that long ago. He then puts them back in his pocket, smiling. _"Ok Urahara, I will do as you ask and help the Wholes wanting to pass on to the next life, and stop the Hollows from hurting people and the Wholes so they can eat them. It's a promise of a lifetime."_

The Kyuubi just looks and smiles showing its fangs off in all their glory. **"Kit I am in a way proud of you. Not many get this path to take. You are one of a very few select people. And I will help you on the way too." **He slowly thinks to himself _**"I only hope he can face the challenges ahead of him, Both in the life of a ninja and of a Soul Reaper."**_

* * *

Right that is the end of the second chapter. I hope everyone liked it. And from the amount of you ether putting this on your alerts or under favourite, well it makes me smile. But please, please, PLEASE review it. It just takes a couple of minutes of your time and would make me a very happy writer and I would then write faster. Which means you would get to read this story quicker.

OK on to responses to reviews:

Naginator: Hope this is enough explanation for you. And do not worry was going to explain it in ether this chapter or the next one. Would not leave you hanging like that but wanted to throw everyone into the deep end and make them think "OK what the hell? How did the Hollows cross over into another world?" Hopefully it worked somewhat and I got everyone thinking that. -Smiles and passes you a cookie-

narutoshamanking : All I can say is thank you -Passes you a cookie-

So all I can say now is please review.

Thank you.

Reven of Darkness.


	3. Different Beginnings

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: Ok I thought I would try and do the next chapter now, and get it out the way, so you readers can have a read of it.

Story time.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

Different Beginnings

It had been three months since that day that Naruto had gained the powers of a Soul Reaper. Three months since Kisuke Urahara had given him the tools to become a Soul Reaper, fight off Hollows and send spirits to the Soul Society. Three months and NOT A SINGLE HOLLOW ATTACK. In a way it was good, cause he knew no one was getting attacked. But in a way he wished one would appear so he could try out his new powers again. Right now he wanted a Hollow to attack anyone just so he could get away from the stares that everyone was giving him. Naruto was sitting on the swing outside the academy having just failed the Genin test again, staring at everyone who had parents and who had passed. He could hear the praise that the kids where getting, he could also hear the whispers from parents about him. The Demon Child. And it was getting to him again.

Without even noticing that someone was beside him, one of his teachers appeared beside him. "I am sorry Iruka failed you today Naruto-kun."

"Mizuki-sensei what are you doing here?" Naruto asked surprised.

Mizuki Touji(1) was an instructor at the academy in Naruto's was of average height, had light grey hair almost reaching his shoulders, black eyes and was quite light skinned with a hint of a tan. He wore the traditional Chūnin outfit of a blue jumpsuit with the red swirl on each shoulder and a green tactical vest. He also wore his headband like a bandanna over the top of his hair and head.

"Well, I am here to offer you a way to take a make-up test to become a Genin. But it is a secret test, none of the students know about it. But I figured I would cut you some slack and offer you the chance of passing. So don't tell anyone. Not even Iruka. OK?" Mizuki say with a smile on his face.

"REALLY? THAT'S GREAT MIZUKI-SENSEI! What do I have to do? Naruto said looking excited.

* * *

Later in the forest outside of Konoha by an old shack. Naruto had just tricked the Third Hokage with his Sexy Jutsu and stole the Forbidden Scroll, and now he had to learn one new Jutsu from it to pass and become a Genin. He knew that the Hokage would be awake by now and sending Ninjas after him to retrieve the Scroll that he stole, but he had to learn one Jutsu so he could become a Genin and be one step closer to achieving his dream of being Hokage and being respected by the village finally.

He sat down and opened the scroll and looked at the first Jutsu that came up. "The Shadow Clone Jutsu." _"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU! WHY DID THE FIRST JUTSU HAVE TO BE A CLONE JUTSU? Oh well I best give it a try at least."_

Elsewhere in the forest Mizuki was traveling to Naruto's location as fast as he could. _"He actually managed to steal the Scroll from the Hokage tower. I am impressed. I have to get too him before anyone else does."_

Back with Naruto, he was kneeling down panting after having tried the Jutsu several times. _"I think that I have learnt it correctly. Now for the next one."_

Suddenly a poof of smoke appears in front of him as Iruka appears. "There you are Naruto. You are in serious trouble for stealing the Forbidden Scroll you know."

"Oh hey Iruka-sensei. I knew you would find me, though I thought I would have had enough time to learn another Jutsu from the Scroll." He said to Iruka smiling.

Iruka Umino was another of Naruto's instructors at the academy and he was Naruto's favourite sensei. He was also of average height but a bit smaller then Mizuki from what he could remember. He had brown hair that was bunched up and spiked at the back of his head, black eyes and was quite tanned. Also he had a scar going horizontally across his face over his nose in the centre of his face. He too wore the traditional Chūnin outfit of a blue jumpsuit with the red swirl on each shoulder and a green tactical vest. His headband was worn on his forehead, covering it.

"Wha...? You say you learnt a Jutsu from the Scroll?" Iruka looks at Naruto in shock but then it turns to a smile at seeing Naruto's big grin on his face. _"Well what do you know. Maybe you do have potential after all Naruto."_

"So now that I learnt a Jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll, I can pass the make-up test." Naruto said jumping up and down in front of Iruka.

Iruka just looked at him confused. "What? There is no make-up test Naruto. Who told you this?"

Naruto just looked at Iruka like he was jocking around with him. "Is this part of the test too Iruka-sensei? Mizuki-sensei told me about it. He said that if I steal the Scroll, bring it here and learn a Jutsu from it before he arrived then I would pass and become a Genin."

"Why would Mizuki say t..." Iruka has just enough time to push Naruto out the way before getting pinned to the shack by kunai.

"Well I see that you got here first Iruka. Not surprising since no matter where Naruto hides you always catch him before anyone else. Now Naruto-kun, give me the Forbidden Scroll" Mizuki ,now with two large throwing stars on his back, said to both Iruka and Naruto.

"Naruto. Listen to me. Just RUN! Get as far from Mizuki as you can." Iruka said trying to get free from the kunai pinning him up, preventing him from moving.

"Naruto trust me. If you give me the Scroll now you will become a Genin." Mizuki said with a smile while holding his hand out.

"Mizuki, stop lying to him. Naruto do not let him get that Scroll. If he gets it, it could put the entire village in danger." Iruka grunted as he finally removed the last kunai holing him in place.

"Iruka says I am lying to you Naruto. Well the entire village has been lying to you Naruto." Mizuki said with a sadistic smile on his face.

Iruka looked shocked and scared, knowing what Mizuki was going to say. "NARUTO DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

"Have you ever wondered why everyone hates you Naruto? Well I will tell you. The reason everyone hates you is cause YOU ARE THE NINE TAILED FOX THAT ATTACKED AND KILLED EVERYONE TWELVE YEARS AGO!" Mizuki's voice was filled with so much hatred and venom when he said that while staring at Naruto.

At this point Mizuki was hoping Naruto would break down but he looked and he was smiling. _"Smiling? How can he be smiling? JUST HOW?"_

"Mizuki, I have known about the Kyuubi for three months now. So that is old news to me." Naruto stated with a fox like smile.

"Well then if you know already, I WILL JUST HAVE TOO KILL YOU FOR BEING A DEMON! DIE YOU DEMON!" Mizuki was already spinning one of his large throwing stars from his back and threw it full force at Naruto.

Naruto's body moved on its own as he suddenly jumped up and grabbed the throwing star and threw it back at Mizuki faster than it was thrown at him. He saw that Mizuki jumped just in time, the deadly weapon just missing him by an inch. Mizuki looked surprised at this and jumped down ready to attack Naruto again. But what shocked Mizuki was what Naruto said in a cold voice. "If you try and do that to Iruka-sensei or me again. I will KILL YOU!"

"Ha. You really think that?" He grabs a kunai from his pouch and rushes towards Naruto at blinding speed. "NO! IT'S MORE LIKELY I WILL KILL YOU!"

Naruto suddenly made a hand sign and shouts "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" A blast of white smoke appears suddenly from Naruto. When it disperses Mizuki stands in shock at the sight of two thousand Naruto clones all cracking there knuckles. "I don't think I can. I know WE CAN!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

After Mizuki had been taken away by ANUB to be interrogated, Iurka looked at Naruto as the sun started to slowly rise signifying dawn. "Naruto, can you close your eyes for a minute please?" He said at him with a smile on his face, beaming with pride.

Naruto looked confused but did as his sensei asked and closed his eyes. With his eyes closed he pondered what happened leading up to summoning all those clones._ "Some of the Soul Reapers reactions and strength must have passed into my body as well as my soul. That is why I was able to dodge and send Mizuki's weapon right back at him faster than he could. I wonder what else my body has gained from this."_

**"Kit, I am as shocked as you. Though it is not a bad thing. It just means you will be a better ninja, as well as great Soul Reaper. This way you can get better quicker and achieve your dream faster because you're already having a head start in away." **Kyuubi told him almost with pride in his voice. Almost.

_"Yes your right Kyuubi. Thanks for helping me think things through over these three months."_ He said to him with a big smile while scratching his cheek with one finger.

**"Kit, I may still not like you. But you're rubbing off on me. Plus I will help you whenever I can. Now open your eyes. Your sensei is worried."** Kyuubi faded from his thoughts as he slowly opened his eyes and saw that Iruka's headband was missing and his goggles where in his hand and that Iruka had the biggest smile on his face.

"Congratulations. You Graduate." Where the words that Iruka spoke to him.

Naruto suddenly smile the biggest smile possible at that moment and tackled Iruka and hugged him tightly. He was now officially a Genin. He was now one step closer to becoming Hokage. "Thank you Iruka-sensei."

"Now as this is a celebration how about we get some..." Iruka never got to finish as he was sent flying into a tree full force. As he looked up he saw a monster with bird like characteristics, a bird shaped white mask with yellow eyes and a hole in the middle of its chest. To say that Iruka was scared was an understatement. He was terrified at the sight before him. The monster roared at him and started to moved closer. He had never seen anything like this in his life. "NARUTO GET OUT OF HERE! I WILL HOLD IT OFF!"

What Irkua saw next shocked him. Naruto pulled out a tag and held it to his chest. Next thing he saw was Naruto fall to the ground but him standing there with a sword in his hand and in different clothes too what he was wearing but still had his new headband over his forehead. "Iruka-sensei, stay back. This is mine." He smiles and ran in front of the Hollow and got into a defensive stance holding his blade across his body. "HEY HOLLOW SCUM! IT'S ME YOU WANT!"

The Hollow looked at Naruto and licked its lips as it saw him. **"My what luck. A tasty Soul Reaper. How about you make this easy and just let me eat you now. I prefer my souls fresh and not injured" **The voice was that of a woman and spoke with sweetly while looking at Naruto straight into his eyes.

"Fat chance. If you want me, come and get me." He grinned at the Hollow as he dashed forward at an incredible speed and jumped towards the Hollow, swinging his sword trying to finish it in one blow. Next thing he got blasted back as the Hollow flapped its wings sending him away. Luckily Naruto recovered and landed on his feet in the defensive stance again. _"OK so attacking head on will not help. So I need to get behind it. But how can I...well it's worth a shot." _He then sheathed his sword.

**"What is that matter giving up already? Well that is great because I can EAT YOU LITTLE SOUL REAPER!"** The Hollow dived towards Naruto as quick as it could, trying to catch him.

Naruto retaliated by making a hand sign. "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" The same blast of white smoke surrounded Naruto as this time only ten where standing there as the smoke cleared. "Surround it." They quickly surrounded the Hollow and withdrew their swords as it stopped its dive. "Now ATTACK!" All ten of the Narutos attacked at the same time. The Hollow immediately flapped its wings and sent four clones hard into the ground and dispelling out of existence. The other six made it too the Hollow, one on each wing as they slashed and stabbed the wings to stop it flying, and the other four on its back. Three of them had to stab the Hollow in the back as they lost their footing but the real Naruto managed to stay on his feet and rushed to the head of the Hollow. He then jumped once more and spun in the air bringing his sword down and slicing the Hollows head clean off. He landed in front of Iruka, who was gobsmacked at Naruto, and dispelled his clones as the Hollow faded away into nothing.

"N...Naruto? What just happened?" Iruka stammered out.

"I told you I would deal with it Iruka-sensei. Oh but urm…could we keep this a secret please? I am still trying to get used to it." Naruto just laughed and had his hand behind his head.

_"You really are full of surprises" _"Ok Naruto. I will not tell anyone about this power you have but can you explain it to me. And as I was saying we can get ramen to celebrate." He stood up and walked towards Naruto who had touched his body and entered it in a bright light.

Naruto sat up and quickly checked his pockets and only found his Soul Reaper Tag _"Ahhhh I must have left that mobile phone at home, that's why I was taken by surprise by that Hollow. I got to remember to always keep it on me."_ He then just smiled at Iruka. "Sure I will explain what happen as we walk back Iruka-sensei. And RAMEN! THANK YOU IRUKA-SENSEI!"

At this moment the Kyuubi shivered. _**"Oh great more ramen. He really needs to eat more than just that stuff. It tastes horrible."**_

As they walked back to the village, they did not notice that they were being watched. The Third Hokage had watched what had happened between Naruto and Mizuki and then Naruto and this monster. He kept watching so he too could find out what was happening, but just smiled at the sight of Naruto being happy. "Well that was several unexpected things to happen tonight. Naruto you really are the most unpredictable ninja ever. And I can see you having a bright ninja career."

* * *

OK that is that for this chapter. Again I hope you readers like it. If you do you know what to do. If you think you can help me get better and help me by adding things you know what to do. In other words review please. I got four this time. That makes me happy. However if you want too flame me, well I will not laugh. I just will get my good friend Chuck Norris to roundhouse kick them back at you sending you back too next week so he can do it again and again and again for all eternity. -Smiles innocently-

(1) I don't know if this is Mizuki's full name. It is a name that I got off an info site about the characters. So before you say _"He did not have a surname." _or _"That is not his real surname" _I do not know what it is. If I had not found this I would have made one up for him. The site I got it from will be on my profile, so if someone can confirm what it is or whether this is his actual surname, please let me know.

And don't worry. The Hollow fights will get harder and longer. These are just small fry. Plus it would be unfair to Naruto if he only just got his powers and had to fight a tough Hollow. But I promise he will get stronger as will the Hollows, and that means the fights will be longer.

OK on to the responses to reviews:

Fan of Fanfics21: Well that you guessed right. There will be a lot more chaos later on though. Have a cookie -Passes you a cookie-

darkyamato: Thank you. You can have a cookie. I read quite a few Naruto and Bleach crossovers and most of them where Naruto dies and becomes like a captain of a squad. Just not realistic in my opinion. And this is how this fic was born in my small deranged mind -Laughs manically then Passes a cookie too you-

freohr: Thank you that makes me smile. Cookie for you -Gives you a cookie-

Jarjaxle: Thank you again. Saying that you want it updated quick makes me smile too. And I hope this will be a great fic. COOKIE! -Hands you a cookie-

Well then I think that is everything.

So until next chapter.

Reven of Darkness


	4. Revelations

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

AN: Right here is Chapter 4. If it has mistakes it is because I am typing it on my Blackberry on my breaks and emailing it to myself. So if there is I apologise in advance.

AAN: Also to my readers sorry it too so long. What with trying to figure out how to write this chapter, finding a job, incidents in our road, writing just seemed to get put on the back bench. Anyway here it is. Hope you like it.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

Revelations

_"Kami, 15 bowls of ramen? How am I going to pay for all of this?"_

This is what Iruka though as he stared at the Ramen Eating Machine known as Naruto. He just heard the slam of the bowl as Naruto ordered his 16th bowl and showed no signs of stopping yet. Iruka knew his wallet would be a LOT lighter after this visit.

"Naruto I have to ask you about him." Iruka say with a serious face while looking at his half eaten ramen. "You said you know about him, if that is the case how then?"

Naruto stopped inhaling his ramen to answer with a grin plastered on his face making him look innocent. "That's an easy one. I have met him before." After that he carried on the devastation to the ramen before shouting, "HEY OLD MAN. ANOTHER BOWL PLEASE!"

"Coming right up Naruto."

"You met the Ky...him?" Iruka looked almost scared at the thought.

"Yep. I met him the day after I got my powers."

* * *

_Flashback _

Naruto was tired. He had been trying out his new sword skills in his Soul Reaper form for hours and was still having trouble handling it. After a few more hours he gave up and sat down under a tree to have a quick rest when he heard the Kyūbi speak.

**"If you're wondering, no yesterday was not a fluke." **

_"Then why do I have trouble handling my weapon?"_ To say he was frustrated would be the understatement of the year. Naruto was almost at breaking point as a result of this training.

**"Maybe it is time you and me spoke face to face." **

The next thing Naruto knew he was surrounded in darkness and standing in water, which reminded him of a sewer. In front of him was a cage that looked like it could hold the entire village of Konoha inside as well as its people. He noticed on the door of the cage a piece of paper with the word "seal" written on it.

That was when he looked closer behind the door he saw a giant fox with nine tails. The aura of evil rippled of its blood red fur as it suddenly looked him right in the eyes, its red eyes and black slits for pupils, almost burning a hole right through him. That look alone was filled with so much hatred and guilt. Hatred cause he was sealed inside this human, but guilt cause everything that has happened to the human has been the result of the villagers idiotic ideas that this human is him.

**"Kit, I don't think I need to tell you who I am, do I?" **Kyūbi said still staring at Naruto.

"So...it is true. I thought it was just voices in my head and that I was going crazy."

Kyūbi just laughed as he heard them words. **"No, you're not crazy." **

"Then why did you bring me to...urm where are we?" Naruto said confused at the location.

**"We are in your mind but we will discuss that later. I am going to give you a choice as it were." **

"What type of choice?" Naruto suddenly looked worried at what it could be. "You're not going to eat me by any chance?"

The Kyūbi that time rolled onto his back, laughing hard as it looked like he was trying to hold his sides with his paws. After a few minutes he slowly got up **"I have not had a good laugh for a while. No, I am not going to eat you as it would not be possible. Now then, I know why you cannot use your Zanpakutō like you did last night. It is because the powers are now locked." **

"What you mean?" Naruto looked confused.

**"What I mean is you used them freely last night because they all flowed into you at once and had not had time to adapt to your body. Now they are sealed and being released into you slowly so now they are adapting to your body at such a slow rate, hence why you cannot do the things you did last night. Now the choice is this." **The Kyūbi stared at Naruto to show how dire this choice would affect both of them.

**"One side of the coin is you go against what I say try to gain the powers on your own, but if you fight a strong hollow you WILL be killed, in turn killing me too. The other side is you remove the seal and allow my powers to mix with the Soul Reaper's power and you will gain both all at once."** _**"Hopefully he will fall for it and I will finally be free from this damn prison." **_The Kyūbi was smiling an evil smile on the inside.

"Urm...what about if I remove half your seal?" Naruto looked right into the fox's eyes.

**"You would get half of mine and the Soul Reaper's strength then. But why would you want to do that?" **The fox just recoiled in shock. _**"Damn it. Not what I was hoping for but it could work to my advantage."**_

"You mentioned a coin and it reminded me of something someone said a while ago now. That was that a coin in reality has three sides. So if there is a choice then there is always another option that the person never knows about." He smiled looking proud of himself.

**"A coin has two sides and...it's edge. Clever." **The fox just looked at him. _**"Maybe I was wrong about him."**_

"Exactly. So suppose if you toss a coin enough times, suppose one day it lands on its edge, then what do you do?"

**"Alright then. To take off half the seal just rip the paper in half and leave half on the cage. Now this will hurt a bit."**

_Flashback End_

* * *

"You removed half the seal? Naruto what were you thinking?" Iruka was mortified at the thought of the Kyūbi escaping.

"Iruka-sensei don't worry. After training with him honing my Soul Reaper skills and his power he kind of warmed up to me so now he will help me as much as he can. Plus the seal actually recovered slowly because he is healing me, he was not trying to force the half broken seal and even helped rebuild it to full again." Another of his smiles showed on his face that could calm anyone. "But I was thinking what if I am out with my team and I get a Hollow attack. I don't want anyone to know about this. Well not yet."

"Maybe you should ask the Hokage to help you on this one Naruto. Now finish up and get home. You have a busy day tomorrow." As Iruka said this he saw that dreaded piece of paper coming towards him that was known as 'The Bill'. _"Kami, why do I keep punishing myself?" _He glanced at the bill and sighed _"Well that's me broke again for another month."_

* * *

As Naruto entered his apartment, which was OK this time, he saw the Hokage with something in his hands. "Naruto, it has come to my attention that you wish to keep your powers secret. Well I thought you would like this." He handed him the package.

"Thank you Jiji-san. But how did you know?" He ripped the package off and looked at the gift. It was a white fox mask from ANUB. Complete with the ears on top of the mask and the muzzle where it should be. He then looked at the design of the mask and noted that it had red and black stripes on it. As much as he loved it, it did remind him of a Hollow mask.

"That is for me too know and you too find out. Now Naruto you will wear that in your Soul Reaper form and only your Jōnin-Sensei will know it is you behind that mask. Everyone else will think you are a new ninja and a new secret rank has been added. You will be known as Soul Reaper or Shinigami. Just make sure your body is hidden" He winked as he Shunshined out of existence.

Naruto looked at the mask in awe and smiled as he placed it on his bedside before getting into his bed and slowly drifted into a sleep wondering what is going to happen to him in the future.

* * *

Well that's Chapter 4 done finally. I know it is short but this is to explain something's that I have kept hidden. I will keep things hidden and reveal them later on in the story or the next one -winks-

Review Responses and Cookies for all:

Jarjaxle - Thanks from the review. And no Team 7 are not assholes lol. And no this is not going to be a harlem fic. Though he will get with someone I have not decided who and if i will be in this fic or the next one.

stc-dragon - Thanks and you will have to wait and see -winks-

serin2 - Ahhhhhhhh yes. I did not forget you but I had a nice chat with you over messages

ConnectFire611 - Yes I know it is hard to find a good crossover of Naruto and Bleach, which is why I did this story -smiles-. And to answer your questions there maybe but what they are and who they are not decided yet, if I want them in that it. And your other question yes there will be other Soul Reapers in this fic but much later on. Also thanks for the website I will take a look at it.

Phnxfyr1 - You might have too if I get writers block again or if life catches me.

OBSERVER01 - For powers I am still stuck on what they will be for him. For his look I have a rough idea and an idea on what his Zanpakutō soul will look like and what his name will be. But Naruto won't.

Well that is that for now then. Hope you enjoy it. Please review and remember Flamers I will string up by their toes and use the flames to attack Justin Bieber with them and maybe get rid of him ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Reven of Darkness


	5. Team Seven

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: Chapter 5 is here people. FINALLY! Damn it too me a long time to write this. What with work and writers block and my computer acting up (I had all my stories on a memory stick so it was all good) and recently sorting the house out with refurbishing. So it is a new year, new computer so it is only right for a new chapter, even if it is a four months out.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

Team Seven

Naruto stared at his new mask, his fingers tracing over the design of it softly almost being mesmerized by its look. He felt a connection to the mask almost as if it was meant for him and no one else. As he was thinking about this Kyuubi spoke to him about how to keep himself a secret from the other Ninja in the village.

"**Kit, I have an idea that may work but comes with a bit of a downside"**

"_What is the idea then?"_ Naruto thought as he appeared in front of the demon fox.

"**Well it will involve fusing the mask to your Soul Form by using my Chakra and yours."** As he was saying this Naruto was thinking before he picked up on the last word.

_"Wait…mine? But your Chakra was used in unlocking some of my Soul Form right?"_

"**Yes but…urm…some of your Chakra was mixed in too. Meaning you do not have to rely on my Chakra."** The Kyuubi looks sheepish which made Naruto chuckle at the sight.

_"So what do I have to do?"_

"**Just hold the mask to your face; I will fuse it to your Soul Form with both our Chakras. It will also allow you to change your appearance slightly too. But I must warn you, it will hurt like hell"** As he finished saying this, Naruto exited his mind and switched to his Soul Form before holding the mask to his face making sure it was in the right position as he thought two words.

"_Do it."_

The pain he felt was just unbearable, almost like his face was on fire and melting very slowly. It slowly fused his jaw first before making its way up the rest of his face. His pain threshold broke as he screamed a blood curdling scream that could be heard across the entire village. The pain suddenly got worse and more intense as his hands grip the edge of the mask trying to rip it off him wanting the pain to stop. He dropped to his knees trying to make it stop almost wishing he had not agreed to this as the pain was too much. After five minutes of this unbearable pain, it slowly subsided.

He slowly got to his feet, dropping his hands away from his new look as he walked slowly to the mirror staggering a little. He saw himself and smiled as the mouth of the mask moved with his own mouth before noticing on the forehead it now had the Leaf symbol on it. His eyes had changed to a dark purple with slits in them and his hair was longer, now reaching down to his shoulders, and was a dark green.

"Wow. What the…?" Naruto was surprised and rub his voice box. "Oooo new voice. Hello, HELLO, hello." His voice, he had noticed, had taken a gruffer, lower tone.

"**Like what I have done kit?"**

"_Yes, I like the green hair. It reminds me of him."_ His mobile bleeped as he looked at it and picked it up. He smiled and put it in his pocket as he opened the window wide and jumped out to the nearest building before starting his hunt.

* * *

He was on his way back when he heard cheering nearby. Normally cheering meant that a big group of villagers where planning another attack on him, so he decided there and then to get closer and listen in so he could report it to the Hokage. As he looked through the window he saw that it was a poker game going on. Out of all the faces he saw one that he knew instantly.

"_Hattari, I should have known."_ Naruto smiled as he saw him. Hattari was one of the few Jōnin in the village to look after him and protect him from attacks. He was 6' 10'' and had soft short wavy hair that that went to the top of his ears; he had hazel eyes with some speckles of white in them making his eyes look like they had tiny diamonds in them. He wore the village symbol on his right arm just below his shoulder. His Jōnin outfit was the same but different in colour as his was a lighter blue then normal and had black stripes on his arms and legs.

Next thing was Hattari cheered as he pulls some Ryo towards him. "Another win for me."

"Damn it Hat, you're on fire tonight."

"How is this possible? I should not have lost with that hand. It was fate that I win."

"Oh shut it Hyūga about fate, no one believes in that especially me." Hattari smiled at the Hyūga Jōnin.

"Fate does exist Hat." The Hyūga glared harshly.

"Really? Well here is something to remember. A little…something that I live by." Hattari just looked at the Hyūga.

"Not that coin one again."

"No, a different one…"

As Naruto listened his phone went off again signalling another Hollow attack. All he could do was sigh quietly before going to the new location. It seemed like it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Konoha was quiet and peaceful at this time of morning; the shops were opening their doors for another day of trading, villages slowly stirring from their beds and the night shift Nin guards changing over. That was till an almighty shout was heard.

"DAMN IT!"

At that moment several birds flew from the trees, people still asleep woke up with a start and those that paid no attention to the world around them or where going about their daily business almost jumped out of their skin with fright. Within moments everyone knew who had shouted. Naruto.

The boy in question was running down the street with his jacket only half on with one arm in it and almost hopping as he was trying to get his other shoe on. He finally got his shoe on and started running faster, before it flew off. He quickly stopped and ran back to get in and made sure that when he put it on it would not fly off again as he slipped his other arm into his jacket and ran again as fast as he could.

"_Damn it! Why did my alarm not wake me up this morning?"_ He thought loudly.

"**Because you were out fighting Hollows last night till late. That and you're an idiot for not setting it at all."** Kyūbi said with a smile.

"_Not helping."_ Naruto thought to the caged fox angrily.

"**I know, but even though you have grown on me it IS still funny to watch and poke fun at you."** Kyūbi chuckled.

"_Just shut up you stupid fox!"_ Naruto just heard laughing in response to that and sighed before pushing himself to go faster.

* * *

Iruka walked through the classroom door to see all of the students that had passed the test. He smiled inwardly but he looked around and got worried at not seeing Naruto anywhere. _"Well he has five minutes before he is late. Must have been going after Hollows again."_

"Ok class, settle down." The response was the students talking to each other and ignoring him. A vein was slowly appearing on his forehead before he snapped and he suddenly used his Demon Head Jutsu, in a way he was hoping to use it one last time on his students. "HEY SHUT THE HELL UP! NOW!" The response this time was instant quiet and all of them facing the front as he cancelled the Jutsu. "Thank you. Now please be quiet till the last few arrive."

As the words left his mouth, Naruto burst through the door almost ripping it off the hinges. "I am sorry I am late Iruka-Sensei."

"Iruka-Sensei, why is the Dead-last here? He failed the test yesterday." A student shouted out while glaring at Naruto hard.

"Well for starters Daichi, Naruto stopped a traitor from stealing village secrets, making it an S class mission. So myself and the Hokage decided to make him a Genin as a reward as well S class pay for the mission. Does that explain why he is here?" Iruka gave a small but triumphant smirk. "Also Naruto you are not late, you're just in the nick of time."

Daichi gingerly slunk back into his seat as Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke Uchiha and sighed in relief as the class continued to wait in silence. Sasuke was sat how he does all the time in class and always quiet. His hair and eyes where both black as the night itself, while his hair looked the back end of the duck his eyes showed he was not too be messed with. He wore his usual clan clothes which has his clan symbol on the back of his dark blue top and black shorts that ended just above his knees with footwear that matched. He wore his headband on his forehead.

As the class was waiting the silence was slowly broken by distant shouting. As the shouting got closer they could hear it was two girls fighting, and everyone in the room knew that it could only be Sakura and Ino as them two where always fighting. For the second time that day the door was again almost ripped off its hinges as both girls burst through the door fighting over who won the race and got too sit next to Sasuke.

"I won Ino-pig so I get too sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted. She was a slim girl, too slim for her age or build, had long pink hair that reached too her lower back that was the same pink as Sakura Trees and green eyes that almost looked like emeralds. She wore a red dress that had a while circle design on the back and a white border around the edge of her dress. The outfit run down her legs which had a slit ether side for movement making sure to cover her decency with black biker shorts. She also wore matching shoes to go with the dress but without the white on them. Her headband was tied like a bandanna in her hair too keep her hair out of her eyes.

"Shut up Forehead! I won that race so I get to sit next to Sasuke-kun! NOT YOU!" Ino screamed as well, almost going red in the face from trying to be louder. She had bright blue eyes that almost matched Naruto's, long platinum blond hair that was in a ponytail and reached the middle of her back. She wore a purple outfit and had white wraps around her arms, hands and legs. Her shoes also matched her outfit and her headband was around her waist like a belt.

Both girls glared at each other before being interrupted by Iruka. "You're both late." The glaring match changed quickly to shock as they slowly turned to look at Iruka. "And the seat next to Sasuke has been taken so find another seat." As quickly as they could they both found seats, Sakura next too Naruto who blushed slightly and Ino in between Chōji and Shikamaru.

"Right now that you are all here, we can start with the team placements. Team 1 will be….." Naruto slowly turned out and just looked at Sakura. He saw her as perfection but she never looked at him twice, ever. It was always Sasuke. Sasuke had everything handed to him on a silver platter while he had to work extra hard to get any skills. He suddenly turned to look at Sasuke and glared at him as he heard Iruka again.

"Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno…." Hearing this Naruto cheered as Sakura slammed her head on the desk, "…and Sasuke Uchiha" at this moment Sakura cheered and Naruto slammed his head on the desk hard thinking _"Why me?"_

"Your sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

* * *

Four hours. Four bloody hours they had waited for Kakashi to get them from the classroom and all three Genin were starting to get impatient. Naruto was thankful his phone had not gone off for a Hollow attack. He was pacing up and down at the front of the class, Sakura was sitting and looking at Sasuke and Sasuke had not moved from his spot.

"I CAN NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs. "How the HELL can he still not be here? Everyone else's sensei was here on time and he is still LATE!"

As he said this the door opened as a man poked his head in the room with gravity defying spiked grey hair, his headband over his left eye and a mask covering the bottom half of his face. He looked at all three before saying "Meet me on the roof in five minutes." With that he left as quickly as he had arrived as all three Genin rushed to the roof.

* * *

All three of them had arrived just before the five minutes was up and sat down in front of their new sensei. He was sitting on the railing and reading from an orange book like he did not want to be there teaching them. "Ok then. Now that you're here why don't we start by introducing ourselves? Your likes, dislikes, dreams, that sort of thing."

"But Kakashi-sensei, shouldn't you go first to show us how you want us to introduce ourselves?" Sakura pointed out.

Kakashi closed his eye as it did a downwards half circle, which for some odd reason they could tell he was smiling too them from under his mask. "You're quite right. Ok my name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes, dislikes and dreams are none of your business. Your turn Pinky."

All three sweat dropped and thought _"We already know his name!"_ They were quickly brought back from their thoughts by a slight cough from their sensei. At this Sakura brightened up and began to speak.

"My name is Sakura Haruno and I like….." she turns too Sasuke and giggles slightly, "my dream is….." she does the same thing again but with a huge blush on her face. "And I hate Ino-pig and Naruto." Hearing this Naruto's face dropped.

"_A fan girl. This could cause problems later on." _He then looked at Sasuke. "Your turn." Sasuke just kept his eyes closed as he spoke with a cold and emotionless tone.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't have any likes and I hate everything" as he said this he opened his eyes too glare at Sakura who noticed but shrugged it off, "my dream…no my ambition is to find and kill a certain man and restore the Uchiha clan to their former glory." Sakura went goo-goo eyed at him while Naruto just glared.

"_An avenger. Like I did not see that coming a mile away."_ He then turned too Naruto "And finally, your turn," Naruto suddenly sat up straight and smiled as he spoke.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are training, Sakura-Chan and ramen. My dislikes are the three minutes it takes too cook instant ramen, Sasuke-Teme and the old orphanage owner." All three suddenly looked at him in wonder though Naruto took no notice and carried on. "My dream is to become Hokage and protect this village till the day I die."

"_Interesting."_ Kakashi smiled at them. "Ok team, we will meet at training ground seven tomorrow at 6am for your next test." He was about to continue before he was interrupted.

"B…..but we have already done the test Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said with her hand up.

"No. You have done the academy test to see if you are capable of taking the next test. Basically you have the potential to become Genin. However if you fail this test you will be sent back to the academy." At this point all three looked at him in total shock. "Also the pass rate for this test is 33%."

"But that is not fair!" Naruto shouted out as he stood up, with Sakura and Sasuke both nodding in agreement.

"Well they are the rules. And before I forget don't eat breakfast tomorrow or you will puke. Now you are dismissed, except for Naruto. I need to have a word with you please." Kakashi watched the other two go as Sakura pestered Sasuke for a date again.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei?"

"Naruto what was that comment about the old orphanage owner all about?" Kakashi looked at him serious.

Naruto suddenly changed from a happy, carefree boy too one with fear in his eyes as his voice changed to a quieter tone. "I….I don't want to talk about it."

Kakashi sighed as he kneeled down too meet Naruto at his eye level. "Naruto, I know you are scared. I can see the fear in your eyes. There is nothing too be frightened of."

"I am sorry Kakashi-sensei I just can't…." He quickly looked down as he felt ashamed of himself as he started to remember that one horrible night when he was seven years old.

"It is ok. You can tell me when you're ready." Kakashi did another eye smile as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I don't know if I ever will. I….I swore never too speak of it again." Naruto quickly excused himself as he slowly made his way back to his apartment, the memories of that night still playing in his head again. However unknown too ether of them Sasuke and Sakura overheard everything and both of them wondered what had happened to him that made him this scared.

* * *

Well that is the end of this chapter. Again I apologise for taking so long. I promise it will not happen again.

First off Daichi means Dai: Large or Great and chi has two meanings. The first is Chi: Earth or Land. The Second is Chi: Wisdom or intellect. Since I am one for being ironic the student's name will be Daichi meaning 'Large intellect', but not having a good enough intellect too see that Naruto is Naruto not the Kyūbi. See what I was getting at? -winks-

Review responses now:

Justbehappydamit: Hope you like what I have done. Here is a cookie

T00STr00nG: As you know we had a chat over messages. Well I gave you my responses and had no reply lol.

Fan of Fanfics21: Yes there will be I hope. Have a cookie.

OBSERVER01: Thank you. I will try. Here have a cookie.

Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: Had a nice chat over messages with you. Hope you like this one. Cookie for you.

I hope I can get the next chapter up very soon as I have started work on it now. I know where that one is going so I hope I have time to do it quickly and post it for all you lovely readers who are taking time out of your day too read my little story. Also I did not include any Hollow fights cause there is a big big BIG one coming up. And remember, all flamers will be used to try and kill the foetus…..I mean Justin Beiber. If I rid the world of him I will be held as a GOD! Well I can dream.

Reven of Darkness


	6. Memories Through Battle

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: CHAPTER 6 IS HERE! I had the idea for this chapter for a while now so this one was pretty quick to get out, thank goodness. And damn I had a bad time since the last update. What with my PSN account being one of the 100 million in the world hacked and my information stolen. Whoever did this is a total fucking bastard and I wish that they have the same thing done to them or are beaten to a pulp. Luckily I was able to change my passwords and questions before any damage was done. And at least my card details were not on my account so that is a plus.

Anyway on with the story.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

Memories Through Battle

The past few weeks had been hell for Team 7. They had passed the bell test, but it was a bit of an uphill battle. While Naruto tried to work with Sakura to get her to help him and then get Sasuke's help, she refused saying she would only help Sasuke if it meant that it was just her and him on the team. While Sasuke in a way when he seen Naruto try and help him instead of sitting back and just letting Sasuke do the work, he decided to work with him realising he had a better chance to get the bells. After the time was up Sakura was tied to a wooden post. They did finally pass only after both boys fed Sakura which means they broke the rules making them trash, but they never abandoned each other which means they were in a way better then trash.

On their first mission away from the village what should have been an easy C ranked mission had turned into an A ranked mission after they were attacked by the Demon Brothers. It was then, after Kakashi has giving him a good talking to about putting his students in danger, that Tazuna explained the situation to them that a man named Gato was slowly taking over the Land of the Wave. After hearing this Team 7, except Kakashi, all agreed to help him out.

Not long before they got Tazuna to his house they encounter the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi. After a brutal battle and after saving Kakashi, Zabuza was killed by a Hunter-Nin from Kirigakure, or so they thought. It turned out that the Hunter-Nin was a boy named Haku, Zabuza's apprentice and "Tool". After the bridge was near completion Zabuza and Haku attacked them for the final time, going all out to try and kill Team 7, minus Naruto who was still sleep but ended up saving Tazuna's daughter Tsunami and grandson Inari from Gato's men.

Naruto had ended up getting trapped with Sasuke in Haku's Ice Mirror Jutsu trying to help out. But nothing they did could stop Haku from "killing" Naruto's rival and new brother, Sasuke who had just unlocked his Sharingan. His anger running on high he tapped into the Kyūbi's power, but not the one he was used to. This one was a lot darker, more intoxicating and more enticing to use. He basically destroyed Haku nearly ripping the boys head from his body but he was able to vanish and take a killing blow meant for Zabuza from Kakashi.

That was when Gato had arrived. He had come to tell Zabuza that he was never going to pay him and that his men would finish them all off so he could squeeze the last bit of hope from this land before he slowly took over the rest of the lands in his bit to gain control of all trade in the world. In that moment Zabuza asked for two things, he asked someone for a Kunai to use and for someone to hold his weapon for him. Kakashi was the one to give him the Kunai he desired by placing it in his mouth and Naruto, who had calmed down finally and became normal again, took hold of his sword till he got back.

After the massacre by the now deceased Demon of the Hidden Mist, Naruto felt a pull on the sword he was holding before it quickly disappeared and for some reason reappeared beside Zabuza. He never thought anything of it as he was more worried about giving Zabuza and Haku a proper sending off. The sword was now placed on Zabuza's grave as Team 7 left after the bridge was finally completed but not before the Wave giving them a sending off. In honour of them, especially Naruto, Tazuna decided to call it The Great Naruto Bridge. At that Naruto got shy and thanked him for such an Honour. Even Sakura and Sasuke where happy for him, though Sasuke was a bit jealous he never let that get in the way of him being happy for his brother.

We see Team 7 now at Training Ground 7 waiting for Kakashi to show up even though he was an hour late AGAIN. Just as they thought about going to find their Sensei when he suddenly Shunshin before them, "Yo!"

"YOU'RE LATE!"

"Sorry I had to help an old lady get her shopping back to her house." Kakashi just smiled under his mask. "Now then today's training. At times you three will be with another team on missions that require two teams. So today you will be having a joint training session with Team 8, Team 10 and Team Guy at Training Ground 20 in the next hour. You will find out what the training is when you get there."

* * *

As they arrived they saw that the other teams where already waiting around. They managed to get a quick look at who was in the other teams. Team 8 consisted of Kiba Inuzuka and his partner Akamaru, Hinata Hyūga and Shino Aburame and were led by Kurenai Yūhi. They were a tracking and locating team.

Kiba while clearly human had several physical traits more akin to animals. Like the rest of his clan, he had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and nails that he can change into claws. He also has the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks. His outfit consisted of dark greyish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood usually placed on his head, over an apparent plate of armour and fishnet undershirt and blue sandals. His forehead protector was on his forehead covered slightly by his hood.

Hinata had dark blue hair, fair skin; traits she inherited from her mother, and white eyes due to the Byakugan, with a tinge of lavender, her hair was in a hime-cut style, with chin-length strands framing her face. She wore a cream-coloured hooded-jacket with a fire symbol on the upper right and left sleeves and fur around the cuffs and hem, with navy blue pants. Her forehead protector was worn around her neck.

Shino had dark bushy brown hair, pale skin, and was the tallest ninja of his graduating class. Shino is regularly seen sporting the same style as the rest of his clan, consisting of dark sunglasses and a sea-green jacket with a high, upturned collar. His forehead protector was on his forehead.

Kurenai is a Jōnin kunoichi with long and black, shoulder-length untamed hair, and very unique eyes that are red in colour, with an additional ring in them similar to the legendary Rinnegan, albeit less ripples. She wore make-up consisting of red lipstick and purple eye shadow. Her outfit consists of a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over this is very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and had regular shinobi sandals on her feet. She wore the Konoha forehead protector on her forehead.

Team 10 consisted of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi and were led by Asuma Sarutobi son of the Third Hokage. They formed the new Ino-Shika-Chō for this generation.

Shikamaru was, to put it lightly, lazy. He had fairly long jet black hair tied in a spiky ponytail, narrow brown eyes, and has both ears adorned by earrings, which were given to him Asuma. His attire is rather plain, consisting of a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeved grey jacket with green edges, adorned on both the sleeves and the back with his a circle with a line through it and wore brown pants and blue sandals. His forehead protector worn around his left arm.

Chōji had brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and like the rest of his clan, he has a much more robust physique than most other ninja. He wore grey shorts, a rather long white scarf and a short-sleeved green jacket over a white shirt with the kanji for "food" on it. He also wore ring earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages. His forehead protector was also worn on a bandanna around his head.

Asuma had brown eyes, short black spiky hair and beard. His clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up. He also wore a flak jacket, the Twelve Guardian Ninja sash around his waist with the kanji for "Fire" marked on it, a bracelet on both of his wrists and bandages on both arms of his outfit as well as regular shinobi sandals. His forehead protector was worn proudly on his head.

Finally Team Guy consisted of Neji Hyūga cousin to Hinata, Tenten and Rock Lee and were led by Might Guy. They were the close-quarters combat squad.

Neji had noticeably long, dark brown hair, typical of males in the Hyūga clan; his hair reached the middle of his back and was tied back a few inches above the end, while two straps attached to a smaller headband underneath his ninja forehead protector to frame the sides of his face. Like the rest of his clan, he has very fair skin and possesses the Byakugan which caused his white eyes but had a hint of grey to them. He wore a khaki shirt and dark brown shorts. He also had bandages wrapped around his right arm, chest, and right leg. His forehead protector was worn on his forehead.

Tenten had brown eyes and long brown hair which she wears in Chinese-style buns, one either side of her head, a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants. She also wore scrolls on her back which held her weapons safely and where within easy reach. Her forehead protector was on her forehead under her fringe.

Rock Lee had hair was cut and styled into a shiny bowl-cut as well as thick bushy eyebrows. He wore a green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, and wore his red forehead protector as a belt, also there were bandages he regularly wore around his hands and wrists, which also cover a set of stitches on his left hand, a trait that was due to his rigorous taijutsu training.

Might Guy was their Jōnin sensei. He was a tall man whose protégé, Rock Lee, has modelled himself after Guy to bear a striking resemblance: they have the same thick eyebrows and black hair cut in the same bowl style. He also wore a green jumpsuit, orange striped leg warmers but wore the standard Konoha flak jacket, though it's normally unzipped. His forehead protector is worn around his waist, like a belt.

Team 7 had noticed that their sensei was missing, which made they angry. But Sakura's anger got worse as Ino spoke, well shouted "Sasuke-kun! Over here!"

"Ino-pig, get it through your thick skull, Sasuke-kun is mine!" Sakura glared at Ino with a glare that could kill anyone, even the Sannin.

"Forehead, Sasuke-kun is not yours, he is mine!" Ino shouted as she ran over and grabbed his left arm as she glared right back at her with the same intensity as Sakura grabbed his right arm.

Naruto just sighed as Sasuke was slowly getting a vain throb in his head. Just as he was about to explode and shout at both the girls the Shikamaru talked Ino off him, "Ino, Asuma can see you, you know."

Ino slunk away ashamed at herself at the way she acted in front of her sensei. "Sorry guys." This alone shocked the co-founder of the Sasuke Fan Club as well as Sasuke himself.

"It is ok Ino. It is just you was embarrassing yourself." Chōji said while his stuffed his face with a hand full of chips he was eating from.

"Shut up Chōji!"

"That's enough Ino." Asuma said as he looked at her. "We will wait for Kakashi to arrive ok?"

Ino just nodded as she looked down, but the silence was broken by Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey. "My youthful rival, I knew I should have challenged you to a 'be on time' Contest. I would have been two wins up in our youthful battle!"

As soon as he finished, Kakashi appeared in front of them all, "Yo everyone, sorry I was late I had to go the long way around after seeing a black cat cross my path."

Naruto and Sakura just muttered "Liar."

Kurenai then spoke, "Now that we are all here," she glared at Kakashi, "we can start todays training. Today you will learn how to depend on another team that you have had no experience with. You will need to find each other's weaknesses and strengths."

"Yes. Now for your task for today to help you develop, your task is to stay hidden while us four search for you. The time limit is 10 hours. This will utilise your stealth, survival skills, instincts and working together with others." Asuma said while taking a drag on his cigarette, he smiled when he could hear Shikamaru say "How troublesome."

"You will need to uses your Flames of Youth to outwit us and stay hidden. That is, if you can stay hidden from us." Guy smiles brightly doing his nice guy pose.

"Now you get a 30 minute head start. Ready? Go!" As Kakashi said this, the Konoha 12 vanished before them.

"_Now let's hope you can stay hidden."_

* * *

6 hours had past for the training and it was going well. They were currently in a cave near the edge of the forest surrounding the Training Ground. They had learned that Kiba was able to detect the Jōnin through smell with his partner, Neji and Hinata with the use of the Byakugan had near 360o vision so they could detect movement and Shino using his bugs could see if the Jōnin passed by them and tell them which way they were heading so they could go in a different direction to throw them off for a bit. The others used their other skills to help out and keep them moving. Naruto found his Shadow Clones useful when he was keeping watch, as he found out that if one dispersed he would get the information back and be able to get everyone moving quickly before they got caught. This happened once which is how Naruto found out. However it was all Shikamaru's plan. They ran for 15 minutes before Shikamaru stopped them and spent 10 minutes planning how they were going to last 10 hours before running for the next 5 to get more distance from the Jōnin.

Right now they were all taking a break. 6 hours on the run with only short breaks before the Jōnin caught up to them had drained them all bar Naruto of the chakra. Everyone was talking to each other quietly, trying finding out about the others that they did not know about. Though Neji was not friendly to Hinata but he would not say way, then again he was not that friendly to anyone. However Sasuke suddenly asked something that got everyone's attention.

"Naruto, why are you so scared of a dead man?"

Naruto just suddenly froze up, not sure what to say as everyone was looking at him. "I…I…I don't want to talk about it."

"What is this about a dead man? What is going on here?" Kiba almost shouted as Akamaru yapped agreeing with him.

"Naruto mentioned in his introduction that he hates the old orphanage owner. I for one don't know why but me and Sasuke-kun overheard him talking to Kakashi-sensei." Sakura had a worried look on her face.

"You overheard me?" Naruto suddenly look panic stricken and his eyes darted around like he was looking for a way out.

"Naruto-kun your teammates only want to help you which shows they have Flames of Youth, especially Sakura-chan." Lee said while making eyes at Sakura but she took no notice.

"Whatever it is all of us here will help you in some way, even Neji here." Tenten looked at Neji as he just nodded.

Even Shino nodded as he spoke, "Naruto, we all will have a dark past, some of us sooner than others. Your teammates will help you by shearing your pain."

Naruto took a deep breath as he began to speak softly, his voice almost breaking "I…..was beaten up by him every day. Every single boy in the orphanage was beaten like me but I was beaten for longer than the rest. The girls well he….." He struggled with his words for a second before he spoke again, "Forced them to do things they should not have done."

Everyone looked shocked, so shocked that even Chōji stopped eating, by this as they looked at Naruto as he continued, "One night I just…..I don't know I snapped. It was like I was possessed, I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and when he walked from one of the girls rooms back to his own room, I…..I stabbed him. I stabbed him over and over and over and I just remember suddenly realising what I was doing and being covered in blood I was so scared." Naruto suddenly wiped his eyes to stop the tears flowing as he remembered that night. "It was covered up by the Hokage but everyone stood up for me and called me a hero. I am no hero."

"N….Naruto-kun you s…saved them from him though." Hinata said softly before blushing.

Naruto suddenly hear his mobile go off as his eyes widened. Everyone looked at where the sound was coming from when they saw Naruto take a mobile phone out and look at it. He muttered something as he stood up. "Naruto, where are you going?" Ino asked quickly.

He just kept quiet as he suddenly run from the cave at full speed towards where one of his clones was located. Everyone just looked at him run in shock. "What just happened?" Neji asked but before anyone could answer Sakura went red as she suddenly screamed.

"NARUTO YOU BAKA!"

* * *

"They are doing well." Asuma said.

"Yes they are. Even though we are 'trying' they are using teamwork to their advantage." Kurenai said with pride.

"They are using the FLAMES OF YOUTH! It must have been my team to show them how to use it so well." Might Guy said doing his nice guy pose again.

"Yes they are doing….." They heard a pop and next thing Naruto running towards them with the rest of the Konoha 12 chasing him.

"NARUTO STOP BEFORE YOU FAIL US DAMN IT!" Kiba shouted

"Naruto this is not the Flames of Youth we should be using!" Lee shouted being the only one to nearly match his speed.

Naruto ignored them as he shouted to Kakashi. "MOVE NOW KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Kakashi just looked at them as Naruto got closer quicker. "Naruto, you have caused everyone to fai….." He never got to finish as Naruto tackled him just as a Hollow appeared and slashed, hitting Naruto's back as he hissed in pain, blood flowing out of the wound.

Everyone just stopped as they saw the Hollow emerge from the ground through a hole that closed itself. The Hollow had long arms that moved as if it had no bones in it. The body reminded them of a bell as it could not balance itself on its two feel. The mask it was wearing covered its entire face as the top of it bent backwards and looked like it was connected to its back; it had small horns on it that made it look like it was wearing bull horns. But what got everyone was the hole in its chest.

"EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE! HELP IS ON THE WAY!" Naruto took a kunai out of his pouch and readied himself as he though, _"Damn it I never had time to switch. This is bad."_

Asuma suddenly spoke up, "Naruto you go with the Genin, We will hold off this thing." The Hollow suddenly turned and its arm extended punching Asuma hard, sending him into the path of a tree. The force he hit it at broke the tree in half with ease.

"Asuma!" Kurenai shouted and suddenly cast a genjutsu on the Hollow but it just turned on her as it spoke in a dark voice that sent a chill down everyone's spine, especially Naruto.

"**You are not the one I want."** It suddenly struck Kurenai as she slammed into the ground before turning to Naruto, **"He is the one I want."**

"Naruto, RUN!" Kakashi shouted as the Genin just stood, frozen with fear as this thing took out two Jōnin with no effort as suddenly its tongue flew out of its mouth and wrapped around Naruto's neck before slamming him into the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Just as the Hollow thought it had won and started to draw Naruto towards its mouth to devour him Kakashi slammed his Lightning Blade right into the back of the Hollow flinging Naruto deep into the forest. It screamed in pain as it caught a glimpse of Guy flying towards it.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Guy was aiming for the head but the Hollow dodged it quickly as it started to chuckle darkly as the wound Kakashi caused healed up slowly. "Kakashi, even your cool, laid back attitude is not stopping this…..thing."

"Then we need to take it on togeth….huh?" Kakashi looked behind it as he saw someone jump into the clearing.

The Hollow suddenly got scared as it sensed a lot of Spiritual Pressure coming closer. As it turned it saw what everyone else saw as well including the Genin.

Naruto stood holding his body under his left arm, his Zanpakutō in his right hand already unsheathed, his new mask covering his face as his green hair framed his mask more, he glanced at the Genin as he spoke in his new voice, "Hurry, take Naruto to the Hospital. He has been injured badly and is unconscious. Tell the Hokage that Shinigami is dealing with the one who did this to him."

Kakashi grabbed Naruto and quickly passed him to the Genin as Asuma and Kurenai had woken up and just stared at the new comer as he spoke again. "Asuma-san and Kurenai-san go with them just in case this Hollow does go after you to kill Naruto and he escapes me. Kakashi-san and Guy-san, I need you two to say here with me just in case this one is too much for me."

Both Asuma and Kurenai nodded as all of them ran off towards Konoha. Kakashi and Guy joined Shinigami, one on each side, as they Kakashi spoke first. "Nice acting Naruto. You even had me fooled."

"Thanks. Now let us deal with this Hollow."

"Yes, we will destroy this…Hollow as you call it before it hurts anyone else in the village with our Flames of Youth." Guy said as he slipped into his fighting stance. Kakashi sighed knowing he would have to use it again as he lifted his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan in his left eye. Naruto readied his Zanpakutō into his attack stance as he heard a whisper. _**"Use me well Naruto."**_

"_Kyuubi, did you say something?"_

"**No kit, I did not say anything to you." **The Kyuubi suddenly looked intrigued, _**"Interesting, could it be the sword is alive?"**_

Naruto ignored it and concentrated on the battle with this Hollow in front of him as it slowly gained its confidence again. Its arms slithered in the air like snakes as it slowly opened its mouth. Before any of them could react it shot out its tongue again, aiming right for Naruto.

* * *

Well that is the end of this chapter. I am glad this one is done now. As I said since the last update I have had a few bad days. Writing has kept my mind off it at least. So I hope you enjoy this chapter. And I know it is a cliff-hanger but I thought it would have been best to end it at this point. And also this chapter is a record at over 4,000 words! I feel so proud.

Review responses now:

Dawm: Thank you for saying that. It makes me happy

nxkris: I had a nice chat with you over messages. I hope I explained some of the things you asked but kept it so you would still be interested to find out what happens next.

justbehappydammit: I am glad you like Hattari since his is yours. I forgot to put credit to you for that but will sort it out this chapter.

Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: I am glad you loved the chapter and the ending. I have chatted to you again over the questions and your just fun talking to. I look forward to helping you with your story to and cannot wait to read your first chapter to see what you have done.

OBSERVER01: Thank you and I will keep it up.

JNottle: Craziness in that review….but I like it lol. Thank you for saying it is a nice chapter. Hope you stick with it.

That's it guys and girls. Until next time everyone.

Reven of Darkness


	7. Memories Through Battle: Part 2

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: Chapter 7 is finally up. For those of you in the know, my laptop's hard drive broke on my birthday. Not only that but while I was on holiday in Tenerife my Blackberry got picked out of my pocket on a night out and the Police did nothing cause they did not believe me. So the beginning of July was not the best at all, but it has been sorted now. So here you go readers.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

Memories Through Battle: Part 2

Konoha Hospital was quiet today, the first time in a number of days. The Genin teams where currently sitting quietly in Naruto's personal room, watching him as he was still unconscious from the Hollow attack. This paired with the incident in the reception caused all of them to think about how the blonde was treated.

* * *

_Flashback_

Asuma, Kurenai and the Genin had arrived at the hospital after giving the ninja on guard duty to get the Hokage. Naruto was on Asuma's back as he went to the reception desk to speak to the young woman on duty at the time.

"I need Naruto's personal doctor and nurse, now please."

The woman looked at Asuma before her eyes became cold and her response made the entire room feel like it was going to freeze over any second. "He is away at the moment as well as the nurse. Just leave that thing outsi… I mean him in reception and they will deal with it when they get back."

All of the Genin were shocked by what she said. Finding out Naruto had a personal doctor and nurse got them all thinking 'why', but what this woman had said about him was just horrible. How anyone could say that about any person must be seriously disturbed in the head. This is when Ino spoke up suddenly, "But he is hurt and needs medical attention."

"As I said to Asuma-Sama, leave him here and the doctor and nurse will deal with it when he gets back." Every one of them noticed that she spoke with venom in her voice and her eyes got even colder.

"But he could die." Sakura said while trying to make this woman, more like monster, see sense before Asuma spoke in a tone that not even Team 10 heard before that is scared them.

"Not giving a patient the proper care or treatment they need is criminal enough, but to deny a Konoha Ninja medical treatment can get you classed as a traitor to this village and you executed. Call them, NOW!"

At this point the receptionist stood up, anger in her eyes and rage dripping from the next words she spoke. "First off, he is not classed as a patient. He is not even human. He is NOTHING but a filthy, pathetic, worthless DE…" She suddenly stopped speaking as the Hokage entered the hospital and gave off such a powerful Killing Intent directed at her that it would make any god or goddess cower in fear. His voice scared everyone even his son, Asuma, who never in his life heard him or saw him like this.

"If you so much as THINK about finishing that sentence, then you WILL pay a visit to Ibiki Morino before you ARE executed."

The woman's eyes widened as she stuttered her response, lifting the phone up slowly as she did. "I…w…w…will call…him now H…Hokage-Sama."

_Flashback End_

* * *

The Genin kept quiet as they tried to hear what the Third, Asuma and Kurenai were saying but Sakura kept thinking about that…man who saved Naruto. Shinigami he called himself, at least she thought that was his name. She was thankful for what he had done as Team 7 had grown a lot closer since the mission to Wave Country. _"Naruto, please wake up soon."_

* * *

Kakashi, Guy and Naruto were shocked at how quick the Hollow was attacking. Naruto barely managed to block the attack, making the Hollow retract its tongue and glare at them. All three dashed forward before splitting up, Kakashi getting ready with a Fireball Jutsu, Guy jumping up into the air getting the height he needed to deliver his foot to the Hollow's face and Naruto summoning fifteen Shadow Clones.

The Hollow shot its tongue out at Guy's leg then brought him down to the ground slamming into it hard making him cough up blood from the impact. It then shot out its hands forming the one going towards Naruto into a fist and slammed it into all of the Shadow clones before connecting with the real Naruto and sent him flying face first into a tree trunk hard. The other quickly tried to grab Kakashi but he managed to dodge by the skin of his teeth and cancel his Jutsu in the process so he could go on the defensive.

Kakashi dashed to where Guy had landed and threw a flurry of shuriken at the Hollow to try and slow it down to try and regroup. The Hollow simply kept walking towards them as it blocked most of the shuriken with one of its arms but one managed to hit it in the left side of the mask where its cheek would have been. It let out a roar and clutched its mask as an opening appeared and it quickly dashed in.

Guy slowly got to his feet but stumbled slightly as both he and Kakashi moved to where Naruto had slid down the tree trunk and lay face first on the floor. Guy was keeping an eye out in case the Hollow came back while Kakashi tried to wake the young Soul Reaper, "Naruto are you ok?"

Naruto turned onto his back and sat up slowly as the pain passed, "Did I win?"

"You lost to both the fist and the tree."

"Ugh, I thought I did." Naruto had to use his Zanpakutō to help him to his feet till he could stand up properly. Though as soon as he stood up straight part of his mask fell off showing part of his forehead and stopped just below his left eye.

"**Kit be careful. Another hit to your head could break the mask completely and stop the illusion. I can repair it when you are back in your body just so you know but you should have seen that punch coming!"** Naruto could hear the anger in his voice as he nodded.

"_**Yes be…"**_ Naruto suddenly heard a high pitched noise in his head as the voice continued again. _**"…Naruto." **_

"_Kyūbi can you try and find out who has invaded my mind please?"_

"**I have an idea but I need more…LOOK OUT KIT!"**

Naruto turn just in time to see an opening and the Hollow appear beside them all as the Hollow tried to catch one of them in its mouth, knocking the others away as it caught one. Unfortunately Naruto was the one caught in its mouth but quickly used his Zanpakutō to wedge the mouth open to stop it chomping down on him. He placed his feet on the jaw, his hands holding on to his Zanpakutō tightly as suddenly his weapon slipped and gave the Hollow a deep slash over towards its right eye. This caused that part of its mask to shatter and cause Naruto to be haunted by what he saw.

The Hollow clutched at its mask and this time gave out a feminine scream, the scream that reminded Naruto of the night of his first kill.

* * *

_Flashback_

Naruto stood there, the bloody knife in his right hand as blood dripped off the tip of the blade and fell to the small pool of blood that it made from being in the same spot for so long. His hands and clothes, even his face, was covered in dark red blood as it slowly coagulated. The Hokage looked at him in sympathy as he slowly and carefully took the blade from him and placed it onto of the body of Hiroshi, the now deceased orphanage owner.

Suddenly several ANUB appeared and started to remove the blood from the scene and from Naruto as quickly as they could. As this was happening the Hokage sealed the body and blade that was used with a special Jutsu if ever a situation like this happened.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked to his right and saw a girl, no older then he was, at the door that Hiroshi came out of. Her face was tear stained and by the looks of it fresh tears were slowing from her now dull brown eyes, her normal straight black hair was now all over the place and he could see the bottom half of her nightdress had blood stained on it.

"Thank you." Her voice was hoarse but she looked into his blue eye to make sure he knew that she really meant it.

"I…it's no problem…"

_Flashback End_

* * *

"Etsuko-Chan." Naruto said barely above a whisper as he stared at the Hollow still in shock. It dropped its hands and showed what Naruto had hoped was not true but he saw it, part of Etsuko's face was showing from where the mask was missing. One yellow eye and one brown eye glaring right into his eyes as she suddenly dashed forward but he just sat there in shock. Before he could even react to her attack he saw a blur of green and Etsuko recoiled back from having Guy's foot planted in her chin.

Etsuko suddenly vanished through another opening as Naruto heard Guy speak, "Naruto are you ok?"

"That was part of…Etsuko-Chan's face under that Hollow mask." He was still in shock that much that his sounded like he was in a daze.

"Naruto, it could be an illusion you know." Kakashi spoke as he held his arm slightly from hitting the ground hard after the surprise attack.

"I know but part of me thinks that it is actually her."

"**You are right Naruto."** Etsuko appeared before them, the mask fully repaired as it glared at the three ninja. **"You really are smarter then you let on."**

"But how come you are a Hollow? Hollows are just monsters right?"

"**Ok maybe I was wrong about you being smart. But it does not matter as you will all DIE HERE!"** She then dashed forward again but extended her arms out and tried to slash Naruto and Guy who both just barely dodged the attack but was distracted enough to allowed a Kakashi Clone to slam a kunai into her thigh as the real one suddenly sprinted towards the back of her.

"Hidden Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu" He clasped his hands together leaving his index and middle finger in what looked like a tiger seal. "One Thousand Years of Death!"

He slammed his index and middle fingers into Etsuko's behind, sending her flying into the air as she screamed, **"AHHHHHH, YOU PERVERT!"**

"Kakashi, this is no time to use that Jutsu!" Guy looked at his rival in annoyance.

"Guy, it bought us some time to think of a way to stop her." Kakashi looked at Guy with his eye smile.

"DAMN YOU AND YOUR LAID BACK ATTITUDE KAKASHI!"

"Guy-Sensei, Kakashi-Sensei bought us some time so that I can…cut her head off with my Zanpakutō." He tried to stand up using his blade to help him but suddenly dropped to one knee and started to pant heavily.

"Naruto what's wrong?" Kakashi looked at him worried, _"He should not be tired at all with the amount of Chakra he has."_

"**Kit that tongue of hers has been taking your Chakra and making her stronger. And all Hollows were once Human Spirits at one point. I will explain it later but for now just survive and send her to the Soul Society."** Kyūbi's "encouragement" made Naruto want to do his duty as a Soul Reaper.

"That tongue has been taking my Chakra. Anymore and I might not be able to stand up at all."

"Ok Naruto, take it easy and me and Kakashi will…" Before Guy could finish, Etsuko appeared and grabbed Kakashi with her tongue and began taking his Chakra as she punched Guy full force and sent him through a tree branch and landed hard on the ground. Her other hand had grabbed the right side of Naruto's head and dragged the left side of his face along the ground and then slammed his head into the ground hard, causing the entire left side of his mask to have been removed.

Etsuko let go of Kakashi and lifted Naruto up, the left side of his face was covered in cuts as blood flowed from them and he had his eyes closed in pain. She wrapped her tongue around Naruto's neck and drained him of more Chakra, slowly opening her mouth ready to devour him.

Before she could do anything more to Naruto, Guy got back to his feet and shouted "First Gate of Opening! OPEN!" The next think Etsuko saw was her tongue being severed and Guy grabbing Naruto, getting him to where Kakashi was trying to stand. Guy's skin had turned red, his eyes pure white with no pupils and his hair was standing straight up.

"**AHHHHHHHHH!"** The scream was piercing as the stump that was Etsuko's tongue hung down and dripped blood on the floor quickly making a pool of blood on the floor.

"Guy, how long can you stay in that form without doing too much damage to your body?" Kakashi was thinking to himself, _"I may have to use the last on my eye and one final attack."_

"Not long Kakashi. What about you?"

"I have enough Chakra to activate the Mangekyō and one final Lightning Blade. After that I am out."

Guy just nodded as Naruto suddenly started to get up and emitted a low growl. "Naruto, rest up. We can deal with this."

"No, just keep her distracted and I can deal with her." Red Chakra started to slowly surround him, his nails started to turn into claws, his whisker birth marks darkened, fangs grew in his mouth and his eyes turned red with slits in them as he heard the Kyūbi speak to him again.

"**Take some. You are going to need it now if you want to stop her. You have next to no Chakra left so this is the only way. Nothing will happen I promise."**

"Mangekyō Sharingan!" Kakashi's eye changed from three tomoes to a shape that resembled a pin wheel. "Ready?" They nodded as Guy suddenly dashed off at incredible speeds, heading right for Etsuko.

His feet planted right into her face and sent her flying landing hard on the ground. She got up quickly and sent her fist straight at Guy, before he could react Naruto blocked the punch with his blade but Etsuko managed to grab it tightly and would not let go. Naruto thought as quickly as he could and came up with an idea, _"Down."_ He ripped through her flesh making her let go and scream.

Kakashi was watching and waiting for the opportune moment, his final Lightning Blade charged and ready to use. Guy went for her again to try and weaken her even more but dodged another attack and landed behind her as Naruto heard him say, "Front Lotus!" The attack connected and sent her towards Kakashi who started running.

Guy sealed his First Gate and dropped to one knee as he saw Kakashi get closer and shout, "Lightning BLADE!" Guy saw the attack pierce through where the stomach would have been before he deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan and jumped back to a safe distance and saw that Etsuko dropped to one knee. "NARUTO NOW!"

Naruto was close to finishing this finally before he saw one last attempt, another fist sent towards him. Thanks to the Kyūbi's Chakra his speed and reflexes had increased allowing him to dodge with ease and decapitate the arm clean off. The screams were not as loud before but Naruto had made his decision to stop her and he was not going to stop now. He slashed right through her mask horizontally making her stop moving.

After that he reverted to normal and dropped to his knees exhausted when he heard her soft voice no longer filled with hatred, "Naruto?"

Naruto looked up and saw that the mask was completely gone and her face was there and she was looking at him with her brown eyes filled with kindness. "Etsuko-Chan."

"I am sorry."

"It is ok…"

"No it is not. I hated what Hiroshi did to me and I could never thank you enough for what you did to all of us. But part of me started to slowly hate you because I kept thinking 'Why could you not have stopped him sooner before he…touched me?' and it just grew and grew making me into something horrible. I never wanted to hurt you but I could not stop. Please forgive me." Tears were flowing down from her eyes and hitting the floor, her Hollow body started to fade slowly as she started to pass on to the Soul Society.

"Etsuko-Chan, I forgive you." Naruto gave her his fox-like smile that made her smile brightly as she nearly passed over.

"I hope I get to see you again Naruto." With her final words said as she faded away, Naruto lowered his head, praying silently but also made her a promise.

"_You will see me again Etsuko-Chan. I promise you that."_

"Naruto, are you able to stand?" Kakashi watched just in case Naruto passed out suddenly.

"I think I can. I need to get back into my body so Kyūbi can start to heal me faster than in this form." He stood slowly and balancing himself before sheathing his Zanpakutō and walking to them slowly, some of the smaller cuts healing themselves but slower than normal.

"Ok Naruto, lets head home."

* * *

Well that is it guys and girls. Hope you like it. So for starters here are the reviewer responses:

cmcwiki: I know I spoke to you over messages but I don't think anyone got who the Hollow was. If anyone did well I must say congratulations are in order. However I hope you will keep reading.

OBSERVER01: In order to find out, you will have to keep reading -wink- And I will keep it up thank you.

9foxgrl: You had the same guess as cmcwiki as Hiroshi, but as I like not picking the choice everyone thinks will happen. Just to keep everyone guessing. Thanks and I hope you keep reading.

saya420: Here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it. So until your next review (which I hope is a good one) ja ne

bankai777: I think I mentioned this in messaging to you but am not sure. Zangetsu is Ichigo's and since Ichigo will be in the story later on it would be wrong of me to take it away. Hope this answers your question.

Garuda 1 Talisman: Even though your review was for Chapter 4 I agree with you lol

Dark Soul Slayer: I think I spoke to you over messages as well. But again my reason for not picking a Scythe as his Shikai form as in my eyes it would be too obvious as they are Death and Death carries a Scythe lol. But thank you anyway for your review.

ichigo1508: Yes I like to leave cliff-hangers sometimes. Well maybe because I am a bit evil myself lol. Thank you for your review.

Krenaya: I thought that if someone who has never read or watched Bleach or Naruto before reads this (Even though it is unlikely) then I hope with my descriptions they will have a good idea what the characters look like before they read it or watch it. Also the action scenes I try to keep them as action packed as possible. And I am trying to keep them in Character but later on they will be different but not by much (I hope) Thank you for your review.

dragonamy21: I hope the wait was worth it lol. Thanks for your review.

And to the A/N reviews before I took it down (Goddess of Night Eternal Faith and 9foxgirl) it sucked but at least I am back now typing my stories and updating again. And thanks for forgiving me.

All I can hope for now is that August is a good month both for finding a new job (I need to get out of my temp job before I am moved to a different place with less money) and for my writing (Which I hope will mean a quick update for everyone who is reading this story, my other one or both) If I can get both stories updated again this month then it will be great as a way to say sorry for taking so long in the first place.

Until next time.

Reven of Darkness


	8. The Path to Strength

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: Here you go everyone, Chapter 8. All I can say is I DAMN the ones who started the riots in London let alone in the other cities including MY OWN CITY! These people…sorry they are nothing but mindless scum I would wipe off the bottom of my shoe. They attacked their OWN cities. That is like paying keep to your family then setting fire to your own house stating in other peoples bedrooms and robbing it whilst punching your family and friends in the face. I really do believe now that some beings that have two legs on this planet have started to mate with ether Vegetables or Fast Food. Rant over on with the story!

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

The Path to Strength

Naruto, Kakashi and Guy where traveling back to the village slowly, their injuries from the fight as well as Chakra exhaustion effected them greatly, as they jumped from tree branch to tree branch. Naruto was on auto pilot following Kakashi and Guy as he was having an internal conversation with Kyūbi about some of the aspects of the Soul Reaper life. He was quickly brought out of this by Kakashi, who was trying to get his attention.

"Sorry Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto knew what this was going to be about from the look in Kakashi's eye.

"Naruto, what was behind that Hollow's mask?"

Naruto just sighed before answering the Cycloptic Jōnin. "It was Etsuko-Chan, the last girl to be touched by Hiroshi. And before you say it could have been a Genjutsu, it was not. If a soul stays in the World of the Living for too long eventually they turn into a Hollow. A being of pure instinct with a mask that protects that instinct. You have heard of a husband or wife dying and then their loved one dying not long after?"

"Yes. That is usually because they have lost the will to live on without their loved one." Guy answered wondering where this was going.

"True but another reason is because the soul became a Hollow and went after the person it loved most." Naruto looked at them, the blood on his face had coagulated, the cuts on his face had stopped bleeding but were healing slower than normal and his mask had started to repair slowly. "Hollows don't eat souls to fend off hunger, they eat to ease the pain they feel from the void created from its decent. The Zanpakutō cleanses the Hollow of the sins it has committed since becoming a Hollow allowing it to go to the Soul Society."

"And if it has committed sins before becoming a Hollow?" Guy asked.

"That I don't know." Naruto answered truthfully, his purple eyes, shining in the light of the setting sun, looking forward and seeing Konoha was getting closer.

"Naruto I noticed you are healing slower than when we went to the Wave. Are you ok?" Kakashi said with concern in his voice.

"I only merged half of the Kyūbi's Chakra and mine by accident with my Soul Reaper powers. So I am only able to have half in this form, reducing healing by 50%. Also the Kyūbi is constantly keeping up my disguise so it is even less for healing. Once I get into my body my wounds will transfer to my body and Kyūbi will be able to heal them as normal." Naruto stated.

"Ok Naruto. I will give the report for all three of us, including what you said about Hollows just now." Kakashi said. "Oh and since the training was interrupted I will make it only 6 hours instead of 10 hours so you all pass the training."

"Thanks and by the way, you own me one Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto said with a fox like smirk.

* * *

"I think it is time you all went home. You have all had an eventful day." Hiruzen said to the Genin all sitting in Naruto's room, waiting for him to wake up.

"But…"

"No buts. It is late and you are all tired. You can all come tomorrow and see him." Hiruzen said with a soft smile.

The Genin slowly made their way to the door to go home but Sasuke and Sakura looked back at their teammate, the worry still on their faces when they heard Hiruzen's voice speak to them softly.

"If he wakes up, you two will be the first ones to know. Ok?"

Both nodded and said their goodbyes and slowly left, leaving Asuma, Kurenai and the Hokage alone when the window opened and Kakashi, Guy and Naruto came through all battered and bruised.

"Welcome back. Glad to see all three of you are safe." Asuma said with a look of relief on his face.

"Thank you Asuma-Sensei." Naruto replied.

"Is the Hollow dealt with?" Kurenai asked seeing the injuries as Naruto waked back to his body and grabbed it, allowing himself to go back into his body. Cuts and bruises appeared on his face and body but quickly healed thanks to the Kyūbi.

"Yes she is. I will explain it later but for now it is all going to be in the report for Hokage-Sama, along with new information on the Hollows." Kakashi replied.

"I shall read it as soon as I get it then." Hiruzen said.

"I doubt you will like what you will read. It even shocked me right down to the Flames of Youth inside of me." Guy told him with a haunting look on his face. As he finished Naruto sat up slowly and groaned.

"Ugh…still a bit sore."

"Maybe you should rest here, just for tonight Naruto. Plus the rest of the Genin are coming to see you tomorrow to see how you are." Hiruzen said.

"But Jiji-San you know I hate hospitals." Naruto pouted which caused the Jōnin and the Hokage chuckle slightly.

"You need to play along to keep Shinigami's identity a secret don't you?" Hiruzen smiled as he knew that would get Naruto to stay.

"Ok, I will play along." Naruto replied. "But I am discharged tomorrow."

"That is ok. Now get some rest." As the Hokage and Jōnin left, Naruto lay back on the Hospital bed and closed his eyes, thinking he would not sleep but slowly drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Naruto felt something on his chest and hot breath on his face as he slept. Slowly he stirred and opened his eyes to see Akamaru on him. Before he could do anything Akamaru gave a happy yap then started to lick Naruto's face.

"Ahhhhh!"

Akamaru then decided to jump off Naruto and run back to Kiba who was laughing hard at the sight. "Nice one Akamaru."

"Kiba, that was NOT funny!" Naruto shouted as he sat up quickly.

"You two calm down." Shikamaru said trying to be the voice of reason. "How are you feeling Naruto?"

"I have been better to be honest." Naruto then had a thought about them seeing his personal doctor and nurse which scared him. _"Kyūbi, what should I say?"_

"**About?"**

"_You know what about."_

"**Just make something up Kit."**

"_That is all you are going to say?"_

"**Yep."**

"_Damn Fox."_

"Naruto?"

"Sorry guys. I am still a bit dizzy." Naruto held his head trying to make it believable.

"Ok, it is understandable. But we all want to know who is that Shinigami ninja?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh Shinigami?" _"I thought it would have been about my treatment." _"Well he is a special Ninja. That monster that attacked us before, he hunts them down. The only one who can as well. I mean other ninja can but he is the only one who can in one blow. He saved me from two of them and gave me this." He grabbed the mobile phone from the side table and let them all look at it. "This lets me know if one is nearby so I can contact him and he can take care of it."

"He must be pretty strong then." Ino said in a slight awe.

"Well he told me he is only using half his strength and the only one he had trouble with was that one that attacked us." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Now on the next few questions we have. Why do all the villagers treat you so bad?" Neji said which made Naruto look shocked at them.

Before he could answer Neji, everyone but Shikamaru started to ask him different things ranging from why he has a personal doctor and nurse to why when they were at the academy he came in some days with bandages.

"Look, I really don't know." Naruto was giving everyone his best confused face. "I really don't know. As far as I can remember it has always been like this and to be honest I am used to it." This response shocked and saddened everyone bar Shikamaru who had a look on his face.

"Guys I am really tired, is it ok if I go back asleep please?"

"Sure, just get out of here quickly ok?" Sakura said. "And cause of the attack we only had to do 6 hours so we all pass."

"That's great." Naruto smiled. "And I promise I will be out before you know it." He watches as everyone but Shikamaru left the room.

"Urm…Shikamaru, the door is there you know."

"I know, but Naruto I know what you are hiding." Shikamaru looked at Naruto right into his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto just shifted and looked down.

"Naruto, the holder of the Nine Tailed Fox. It was not hard figure out. The looks you get, you getting called demon, ridiculed by adults and even the kids." He started to look at the floor then hiding his face.

"But…but…" Naruto just looked on shock at what he heard next.

"The hero of Konoha, the dead last who held back and kept the Kyūbi sealed no matter what, the ninja who could have turned his back on the village that hated him so much and seeked out to get revenge instead chose to protect it regardless of what happened to him." Shikamaru looked up at him and just smiled.

"Shikamaru…"

"I won't tell anyone, I promise you that. But when you decide you are ready to tell everyone else, I will stand by you as your comrade and friend." Shikamaru made his way to the door before saying, "To me you are a hero, always will be no matter what."

* * *

"It is great to be out of that damn place." Naruto said stretching out the kinks he got from being in the uncomfortable bed at the hospital. He also thought about what Shikamaru said to him in his room as well. "I am not a hero."

"Well some people think you are a hero Naruto."

"_That voice. Is that…?"_ Turning around quickly, Naruto saw the owner of that voice. "Urahara-San."

Urahara smiled softly at him as he walked closer with a walking cane. "Nice to see you again Naruto. How are you doing?"

"Nice to see you again. And I am doing well, but I took a beating yesterday from a tough Hollow."

"Yet you beat her. So it is all balanced out. And I found out about it by sneaking in to the Hokage's Office and reading the report." Urahara pulled his trademark fan and smiled like a Cheshire Cat.

"I guess. Why did you not tell me the truth about the Hollow's real identities?" Naruto said with some slight anger in his voice.

"Well because it might have put you off being a Soul Reaper. And I did not want that to happen." He closed his fan and gave Naruto a light tap on the head with it as his smile got even bigger.

"Ok but I want to get stronger." Naruto said as he turned around. "Oh by the way…"

The next thing Urahara felt was a Shrunken in his forehead. He screamed as he pulled it out, causing his blood to slowly shoot out of him like a fountain. "AHHHH! THAT HURTS DAMN IT!"

"That is for thinking I would have turned my back on being a Soul Reaper and not helping people." Naruto said with a vain pulsing in his forehead.

Urahara quickly put a plaster on his injury as a gateway opened up behind Naruto. He quickly took a look at it in shock but before he could ask about it, Urahara walked to his side and spoke to him. "That is a gateway to my world. Follow me and I will help you get stronger." He walked straight through the gate leaving Naruto on his own. Naruto without even giving it a second thought walked forward into the gateway as it closed behind him but someone saw him walk through the gateway but could not hear anything, someone with pink hair that stood in shock.

* * *

"Welcome to my shop Naruto."

Naruto looked at the shop interior, the items on sale, as well as the shop owner again before looking down and saying, "It's dire."

Urahara sweat dropped at the statement before walking towards the back of the shop and opening a hatch for Naruto. "Head on down. I will follow you down in a minute. I just need to make sure that we will not be disturbed." As Naruto got into the hatch and started to make his way down they both heard someone speak which caused Urahara to drop the hatch door right on top of Naruto's head.

"Miss Kuchiki? One moment, I'll wake the manager."

"Too late. I'm up." Faking a yawn as best he could he walked towards where the voices where, as Naruto shook the cobwebs out of his head he looked in the direction Urahara was just as he spoke again. "Morning Tessai, Jinta, Ururu. Welcome, Miss Kuchiki. I got a shipment from the other side just yesterday. How can I help you today?"

He could not get a look at the others but he could see who he thought was Miss Kuchiki. Short and petite, she has pale skin, violet-coloured eyes and black hair that was at shoulder length, with one strand of hair hanging between her eyes. She was wearing what looked like a uniform of some kind with what looked like a bow or ribbon on her shirt where her collar was. He was sure that she looked at him right into his eyes even if it was just for a second but he shook the thought out of his head.

Before he hung around for too long he headed down the ladder into what he thought would be a basement. When he reached the bottom he got a good look at the area and was in awe of the place. It looked like a secret world was hidden inside of another world. The sky he noticed never had any clouds or sun in it; it was just a blue sky. Rocks and cliffs where everywhere he looked and the size of this place amazed him even more. How anyone could keep this a secret he will never know. Deciding to wait near the ladder he sat down on the floor near a rock and rested against it.

After what felt like a few hours, but was actually a few minutes – time was hard to tell in this place- Urahara finally made his way down into this place. "Ok let's get started. Shall we?" Gesturing to an open area the two of them moved getting plenty of space. "Now you want to get stronger, yet you are not using your full potential. Correct?"

"How did you…? Correct."

"How did you get to this point then in your power, Naruto?" Urahara asked as he swung his walking cane around, almost like he was on a stage performing.

"I merged half of my Soul Reaper powers with half of my Chakra and the Kyūbi's Chakra by ripping of half of the seal and they merged though it hurt like hell."

"Ah the Kyūbi no Yōko, I know he was a powerful demon lord of Chakra. So you and him are friends?" Urahara asked as he started to walk closer to Naruto.

"Kind of y…" Naruto got a shock when he found his body on the floor in front of himself who was not released in him soul form. He looked up and saw that at the bottom of Urahara's cane had the same symbol as his tag.

"I want you to merge the rest of your Chakra and the Kyūbi's with your Spiritual Pressure. And you cannot do that in your body right?" Urahara's smile showed Naruto that he was almost acting innocently.

"But I have tried just like Kyūbi showed me how to so we can bypass the seal but it is like something is stopping me from actually doing it."

"Show me."

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. Slowly his blue Chakra and the Kyūbi's red Chakra started to swirl around him going clockwise. He concentrated even harder and his Spiritual Pressure, orange and red in colour, slowly appeared as well and swirled around him anticlockwise. He held both his hands up like he was holding a ball and the two Chakras went to his right hand and become violet in colour in the shape of a ball. His Spiritual Pressure went to his left hand and became a ball as well but kept its colours separate, swirling around each other. The first time he did this, it was a breeze. The Chakras and Spiritual Pressure merged with ease, violet and orange/red combined. Life and death in perfect balance and harmony. Both powers working with no issues. This time, and like the time before this one, the powers resisted the merging process, almost like they were repulsed by each other. Naruto managed to get them closer to each other with extreme force but both ball suddenly split and the three powers swirled around him again. "See?"

"_Interesting, it looks like one power is resisting the merge, almost as if it is changing a frequency constantly so he cannot become stronger but it seems more like a block. Now which one is it that is blocking?"_ Closing his eyes, Urahara concentrated hard for a few seconds before he got his answer. _"Got it." _He looked into Naruto's eyes and said, "Naruto, I need to go into your mind to sort this problem out. If there is a memory you do not want me to see then picture a door and close it. I will not open it." Naruto just nodded and felt Urahara push into his mind slowly as to not hurt him.

* * *

Looking around Naruto's mind Urahara saw a cage with in front of him with a small piece of paper with the word seal on the front of it; how that stopped a being of pure and raw Chakra from escaping he will never know. "Kyūbi no Yōko I presume?" Urahara asked the rhetorical question already knowing the answer.

"**Kisuke Urahara."** The Kyūbi walked up to the cage doors and looked right into Urahara's eyes. **"What do I owe such a…unusual visit from an outsider?"**

"I need to know why you have blocked Naruto's attempts at merging his powers. And please be truthful." Urahara replied with no fear in his voice.

"**You have guts I will give you that. The truth is it is not me stopping him. However I know who is."** The Kyūbi looked to his left as a hallway appeared suddenly. **"Go deeper into the Kit's mind and you will find the true culprit."**

"Thank you Kyūbi. I am glad Naruto can trust you in his world." Urahara tipped his hat and took off down the corridor slowly as he heard the Kyūbi speak softly to him.

"**I am doing this for the Kit so there is no need to thank me."**

To Urahara it felt like an eternity had passed as he travelled down the corridor but he finally reached the end of it and found a door that was black with red cracks in it. Turning the handle he opened it slowly and took a look inside before throwing the door open in a slight anger. What he found was another cage with a seal on the front of it. Thinking he had been tricked, he turned around to head back to The Kyūbi but stopped when he heard, **"What pathetic fool has entered my domain?"**

Urahara was shocked that this voice was so full of malice, turning around slowly he made his way to the cage and found another Kyūbi no Yōko but with a darker and more sinister aura to it. Just by looking at it, Urahara could tell that this Kyūbi wanted the destruction of everything and the land and sea to flow with blood. "You are the one stopping Naruto."

"**If it is not the worthless human who has helped my container, how did you get here?"** Yami Kyūbi roared in a rage.

"I was shown here by…well your good side." Urahara looked closely to see if there was a way to disrupt the block just long enough so Naruto could merge fully. He smiled slightly when he saw one and started to formulate a plan in his head and just hoped that it would work as well as he thought it would.

"**My good side? He has lost his backbone and pride when he chose to help the very human who keeps us sealed inside of himself! Helping the very PRISON IS UNACCEPTABLE AND HAS DISGRACED US BOTH!"** He pushed up against the cage hard and managed to slip his head through the bars and snapped right in front of Urahara to try and scare him but he stood still as if nothing had happened.

"You do not scare me, I have faced worse things than you and it has all made me stronger." Grabbing the bottom of his cane he pulled on the handle and pulled his cane apart to reveal a sword. This caused Yami Kyūbi to laugh hard in front of him.

"**You think you can hurt me? Especially with that child's toy you have in your hand? You must be stup…"** His words were cut short as the sword slashed across his face, cutting deep into him. **"How?"**

"Surprised? Is it because you thought this was a normal sword? If so then you are very wrong and the stupid one here." Sending a kick to the Yami Kyūbi's jaw caused him to rear back hard at the force from the attack, which gave Urahara a chance to dash forward into Yami Kyūbi's cage and get close to him as he said, "It is a Zanpakutō. Hadō #4: Byakurai!" Pointing his index and middle finger forward with his left hand he shot a lightning bolt straight at Yami Kyūbi as it pierced straight through him. But that did not stop Yami Kyūbi from trying to counter the attack as he brought his paw down hard, trying to catch Urahara underneath him but Urahara dodged just in the nick of time and brought his Zanpakutō to the left side of his face as he dashed up aiming straight toward the hole he made. As he started to enter he swung his Zanpakutō with all his strength and slashed through Yami Kyūbi, almost cutting him in half, as blood splatted everywhere in sight. He landed gracefully on the other side and began to remove the blood from his Zanpakutō.

"**Y…you…YOU BASTARD! I WILL GET YOU FOR THAT!" **Enraged, Yami Kyūbi started to create a giant Tailed Beast Ball, big enough to wipe out an entire village or city let alone one person, from its mouth. Without taking a second to think he fired it straight at Urahara.

"Think before you attack." The Tailed Beast Ball exploded right in front of him as he sheathed his Zanpakutō. He then held up his index finger as he counted the reasons, "I was outside your cage, so you can not hurt me." He held two fingers up, "I have cut the power inside of you that is allowing you to stop Naruto from getting stronger. And finally," He held three fingers up this time, "you are probably thinking how a human like me do so much damage to you and disable one of your powers, correct? To answer that, you underestimated me as I am a Soul Reaper and you are only at a forth of your true power. I am not."

"**How DARE YOU!"** Yami Kyūbi roared as his wounds started to heal, the hole and giant slash through his body taking longer to heal then a normal cut would.

"Know that you will never be able to hinder Naruto ever again. If you try too, I will rip you out of him myself." Urahara said with a glare right into Yami Kyūbi's eyes.

Yami Kyūbi chuckled darkly as he said, **"Do that and you will kill this brat." **He then gave the most sinister smile a fox could. **"Do you really want to do that?"**

"Did I say I would rip out the good side of you? No. If I remove you he will be close to death but he will recover from it. This is your only warning." He tipped his hat to him and turned around as he muttered, "Farewell." He then vanished from Naruto's mind.

"_**I…I swear on all of my powers, this is not over. I will control this boy Kisuke Urahara. You cannot stop it."**_

* * *

"All done." Moving away from Naruto, Urahara smiled at him. "Now try again."

Simply nodding, Naruto started again and managed to create the balls of energy in his hands again. Taking a deep breath he pushed them together and found that they merged with ease. Grinning wide, he took that in his left hand and summoned his current merged power and pushed they both together, letting them both flow into one. As soon as it was completely merged, he erupted into a bright white light that covered most of the hidden room.

Urahara looked on without even flinching and saw that as the light died down Naruto was standing there, his outfit my not have changed but his mask had taken on more of a demonic Hollow like structure with more red and black markings on it. His Zanpakutō had also changed, it had grown in size to what Urahara compared it too was Ichigo's Zanpakutō. It was just a bit smaller and the handle was the same with swirls on it but apart from that it looked the same. "How do you feel?"

Taking a deep breath he spoke, "Like I could take on an army of Hollows."

Smiling he tapped him on the back. "Congratulations. You are now able to tap into your powers fully."

"Thanks Urahara."

"No problem. Now," The gateway opened up behind him, "you better get back before people think you have scarpered."

"Will I see you again?" Naruto asked as he got back into his body.

"Of course."

Naruto nodded and walked towards the gateway but he turned around and spoke one last time. "See you soon Urahara-San."

Waving he replied, "You too Naruto." Naruto walked through as the gateway closed. "Now time to check the stock levels."

* * *

Naruto got back to his world but the gateway opened in his apartment. He looked out of his window and saw that it was still during the day and smiled softly. Before he could think of anything someone knocked on the door. He looked out of the little spy hole he got installed and saw that it was Kakashi. He opened it and smiled, "Hello Kakashi-Sensei. What brings you here?"

"Sakura saw you with a strange man and that you walked through a strange opening and disappeared. You ok?" Kakashi said with concern.

"Oh that was just Urahara-San. He was helping me with my Soul Reaper powers."

Nodding he looked relieved before quickly cheering up, "I thought that might have been the reason." He then spoke to him about the real reason he came. "Also you have a team meeting tomorrow at 7am. It is important you show up."

"Urm…ok. Can you tell me what it is about?"

"It is a surprise. See you tomorrow." Kakashi Shunshin suddenly but the thought about tomorrow excited him.

"_I cannot wait now. I wonder what it will be about."_

* * *

Urahara walked to the stock room and glanced around when he saw a box slightly out. "What?" Looking closer at it he saw that it said on the side 'Defective Soul'. Taking a look inside of the box he realised to his horror that he had given out the wrong package. "Uh-oh."

* * *

Well that is this chapter done. I am sorry for that little rant at the beginning of the Chapter (Even if it is a few months out) but it needed to be said. Now the reviewer responses:

Storylover213: I spoke to you over messages and it was good. And for the review I will keep it secret to everyone else. Thanks for your review.

Ccebling: I think I have mentioned this to one of my other reviews but Naruto's Zanpakutō Bankai is set in stone and finally his Shikai is as well. Sorry but thanks for your review.

Jin Dante Kazama: Thank you for saying it is not bad and reviewing. That makes me happy.

Blackholelord: I try to make them as long as possible without the story going too fast. Plus I write a plan out first then I write it out in pen before typing it up and then I see that some bits need to be removed or edited, bits need adding in and by the time it is done sometimes it is ether a bit longer or shorter then I intended but it is about the right speed I want it to go at. Thank you for saying it is a nice story and reviewing.

Wolfpackersson09: That would be an interesting name. If Sasuke was a Soul Reaper that could be an ideal name for his Zanpakutō as it is a link to the Uchiha Bloodline as well as himself. For Naruto unfortunately it is wrong but it was a good idea. Thanks for reviewing.

For those of you who are reading The inFAMOUS Ninja, I have already done a plan for that chapter and I will be writing it out as soon as then I will be typing it up. And the next chapter for this story will be getting planned as well.

Also:

Etsuko - means child of joy

Hiroshi - means generous

I forgot to put these meaning in the last chapter so I put them in now. My fault.

Until next time.

Reven of Darkness


	9. The Chūnin Exams

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: Here you go guys and girls, Chapter 9. I do not know why but this chapter was hard to write. Probably due to a bit of writers block but now that is over, we can get to it.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

The Chūnin Exams

For Naruto, 7am could not come quick enough to find out what this surprise was all about. He could not sleep because he was that excited so lucky for him he got an order through the night that a Hollow was due to attack nearby and he got to perform his first Konso, or Soul Burial, on the soul of a teenage boy who had not long passed. It hit Naruto hard and saddened him but at the same time he was happy that he could help one soul find piece and crossover to the other side.

He was waiting currently at Training Ground 7 with Sakura and Sasuke waiting for Kakashi to show up. 30 minutes later before long Kakashi appeared in front of them in a poof of smoke making it a new record for him. "Yo."

"Late again!" Sakura shouted.

"Sorry I had to help a family find their dog." Kakashi said as he just shrugged.

"Why did you call us here Kakashi-Sensei? You told us this was a surprise." Sasuke said.

"It is. I have decided that since you have completed the mission to the Land of Waves and that you completed the training as well, even though we had an interruption, I have decided to put you into the Chūnin Exams which start tomorrow." Kakashi said with what sounded like pride in his voice.

"You mean…we can be promoted to Chūnin!" Naruto shouted and jumped up and down with joy.

"Could Naruto not can. It is not for definite if you will become a Chūnin. You could come out on top of the whole exam and not be promoted or come at the bottom and be promoted. It all depends on your skills in battle and in information gathering." Kakashi said to them before continuing. "If you want to take part then you have to fill out this application form and arrive at 9am at this location tomorrow." Each of them where given the form to fill out and a piece of paper with the location on it. "Now I want you all to go home and think about what you want to do. Remember this must be your choice if you want to take part or not. See you later." Kakashi suddenly Shunshin and left his students to think.

"What now?" Sakura asked.

"Well he said to think about it. So that is what I am going to do. Later." Naruto said before running off.

"Naruto wait!"

"Leave him Sakura. Kakashi said we have to think this over and it is our choice so I say we all take today to decide if we want to take part." Sasuke said before he started to walk back to the village. Without even turning back to look at her Sasuke spoke, "And before you ask Sakura, no I am not going on a date with you."

Sakura looked dejected at being shot down again, before she even asked. Sighing she walked back very slowly to the village before she heard a noise above her. Looking up she saw Shinigami heading towards the village with a new sword and…Naruto under his arm unconscious. Looking worried she started to follow him as fast as she could. "Shinigami-Sama!"

* * *

Naruto was running back to the village when his phone went off. Looking back quickly to see if he was out of sight of Sasuke and Sakura, he dived into the forest and used his badge. Picking up his body in his left arm he jumped up to one of the branches before jumping towards the village to place his body for easy access and to deal with the incoming Hollow. This was also the perfect chance for him to think about the Chūnin Exam tomorrow and what he should do. It what no doubt that he would take part that was a dead cert. But it was the fact if he took part and he could not exit if there was a Hollow attack then he was screwed.

As he was jumping he heard someone shouting his name, "Shinigami-Sama!" looking down he saw Sakura and Sasuke chasing him. Sighing he dropped down and looked at her, "Sakura, now is not a good time to talk."

"I am sorry Shinigami-Sama but what happened to Naruto?"

"I don't know. He contacted me but I found him like this." Looking at them quickly he was trying to think of a way to get to the Hollow without alerting them. _"Damn it. Now what am I going to do?"_

"**You could always tell them the truth you know Kit."**

"_Yes and how do you think that will go? They will think I am pulling some stupid prank."_

"**I am only suggesting an option."**

"_I know it is but not yet. By the way do you know who else is in my head Kyūbi?"_

The Kyūbi hesitated slightly before speaking. **"Not yet but I am close to finding out and stopping it." **

"_Thank you Kyūbi."_

He was brought out of his thoughts by Sasuke speaking to him. "Shinigami is something wrong?"

"Yes it looks like another attack is about to happen." Thinking on his feet he came up with an idea. "It will be difficult for me to take Naruto back to his apartment. Please both of you take him there for me as I have about 3 minutes to get to the location of the attack."

Nodding, Sasuke took Naruto's body on his back, "We will. Will you be alright?"

"I will be fine. Please hurry though. Naruto's safety is top priority." Naruto watched both Sasuke and Sakura headed back to the village as fast as they could before try and find out where the Hollow would attack.

* * *

The Kyūbi smiled at Naruto's quick thinking before looking behind him and seeing what he knew caused Naruto to worry about someone invading his mind. **"As promised I have not told him about you. As you said it is only when he is ready that he can find out about you."**

A shadowy figure looked at the Kyūbi as it walked into its cage before speaking. **"Thank you Kyūbi."**

"**Can you at least tell me your name?"**

"**Of course I can. But you will be forbidden to tell Naruto that name or even think it to him. He must hear my name on his own. And I must ask of you your true name."**

The Kyūbi nodded softly. **"I think that is fair."**

"**My name is ******."**

"**Thank you for telling me your name. My name is Kurama."**

"**Thank you. Do you think Naruto will hear me and my name soon?"**

"**The Kit is dense sometimes but he will hear you and your name soon enough ******. I hope."**

"**As do I Kurama. As do I."**

* * *

Naruto was near to the location now but he knew he would not be there until after the Hollow appeared which aggravated him. How could he be so careless and let them almost see him? He pushed that out of his mind for now and tried to increase his speed so that no one would get hurt if he was late. He drew out his blade ready so that he could strike as soon as he saw the Hollow. "Damn it. Got to be faster!"

* * *

Sasuke, carrying Naruto on his back, and Sakura where near Naruto's apartment as they kept running as fast as they could so they could catch up to Shinigami and help him. That is when they bumped into Team 10. Chōji looked and asked, "Guys what happened to Naruto?"

"Long story. We need to get him back to his apartment but we don't know what number it is." Sasuke said quickly.

"Chōji and I know where Naruto lives. What is going on?" Shikamaru said while they ran towards the apartment.

"Naruto was attacked and Shinigami found him but he had one of them monsters to deal with." Sakura said before continuing. "We have to help Shinigami."

"I think he can take care of…" Shikamaru stopped talking before saying "What the…?"

"Shikamaru what do you…?" Even Ino stopped and looked in shock as the others saw what has caused them to stop. They saw that a door was broken and off its hinges as they slowly walked in and saw that Naruto's apartment had been trashed and words sprayed all over the walls.

"Who did this? And why?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"We can't leave Naruto here that is for sure. We need to find Shinigami-Sama." Shikamaru said.

* * *

Naruto was getting annoyed with this development. Hollows fights normally involved fighting but this one…, "COME BACK HERE HOLLOW!"

"**I AM NOT COMING ANYWHERE NEAR YOU SOUL REAPER! YOU JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!"** The Hollow shouted back as it was running away.

"I SAID COME BACK HERE YOU COWARD!" Naruto shouted swinging his blade like a mad man trying to catch a small animal with a huge net.

The Hollow was running as fast as it could and looked back to see how far away it was. The Hollow smiled at the thought of out running a Soul Reaper but it did not see a foot coming towards its face that sent it flying back towards Naruto who brought his blade down hard. **"DAMN IT!" **Naruto's Zanpakutō sliced though the Hollow's mask as it slowly faded away. Looking up he saw Team 8 and Team Guy.

"SHINIGAMI-SAMA!"

"L…Lee? What are you doing here?" Naruto said standing up and sheathing his blade.

"We saw that you was chasing one of them…Hollows you called it…and thought we would offer a hand." Neji said.

"More like a foot from Lee." Naruto replied as he saw his teammates, still with his body, and Team 10 run up to him as his eye started to twitch. _"Great just what I need and now I think I am getting a headache." _He looked at them before saying, "I thought I said Naruto safety was top priority."

"We could not take him back as his apartment was broken into and the place trashed with the words "Demon", "Get Out" and "Monster"."

Naruto just sighed as he looked at them and played along. "Again? This getting ridiculous and the small minds of the villagers are not helping the situation." He placed his fingers on the mask's nose and rubbed it while thinking, almost as if he was rubbing his own nose before he looked up at them all. "Ok leave Naruto with me I will take him to someone who will look after him. A safe house if you will. I need someone to go to the Hokage and inform him that Naruto's apartment is trashed again so it will need cleaning up and repairing as soon as possible. The rest of you can go about your business, ok?

All of them nodded as Naruto took his body and jumped up to a roof and took off so he could get back into his body without anyone seeing. "Guys is that true? Did Naruto's place get trashed that badly?" Kiba asked.

"Yes it was bad from what we seen. But Shinigami said again. Does that mean this has happened before?" Sasuke replied.

"_You really have been treated bad Naruto. It is a wonder why you have not turned your back on us." _Shikamaru thought to himself.

* * *

Landing on a building he knew was far enough away he grabbed his body and went back inside. "Damn it. I really am getting sick of this." He was thinking to himself before a light went on in his head. "Ok it is decided. I am taking part in the Chūnin exams, winning it and getting promoted. No matter what. That will get me some respect in this village."

"**Kit I am proud of you but I think another attack is happening."**

Sighing he exited his body again with his badge and headed to the location of the Hollow with a clear head on his shoulders and hoping that he would get to fight instead of just chase a Hollow around the village.

"_You know how to spoil the moment don't you?"_

"**I try my best Kit."**

* * *

Sakura was walking home, thinking about the Chūnin exam tomorrow and about Naruto. She came to her house and walked straight in and up to her room without even greeting her parents as she just fell onto her bed. _"What can I do? I know I am not strong like Sasuke or even Naruto, not by much thought. I…I am going to enter the Chūnin exams to prove I can be just as strong as my teammates. But Naruto, is he in any condition to enter now? And he really has been treated badly and I guess everyone in the academy never helped. I better start being a little nicer to him. But if he does something stupid I will give him a whack on the head!" __**"YES WE WILL! SHĀNNARŌ!"**_ Sakura slowly started to drift off to a slumber as she made her choice.

* * *

Sasuke was in his family training ground practising his family Jutsu and at the same time thinking. Eventually he sat down for a rest and he concentrated more on his thoughts. He closed his eyes softly before nodding _"I am defiantly taking part. There was never any doubt_ _about it. I know Sakura is the weakest link in our team but Naruto…he is a mystery to be honest. What I saw when he fought Haku was strength that even I could never achieve. How did he achieve it though? That is what stumps me. I will ask him later about that. Since Sakura is the weakest in fighting if there is any combat that involves us as a team Naruto and me will cover Sakura and if there is anything that involves book smarts Sakura and me can cover Naruto."_ Satisfied that he had what he thought might be the bases covered at the exam he stood up again and continued his training.

* * *

Morning soon came for Team 7 as they all met up near the location and walked towards it in high spirits with their application forms ready. As they walked Sasuke filled them in on his plan to cover any weaknesses that the team had. Naruto protested about being covered in book smarts but a swift punch to the head from Sakura changed his mind. As they handed in their forms they were told they had time before the exam started when they heard a scream. Reacting without hesitation they ran to the screams location to find Konohamaru held up by an unknown ninja. "You little brat! I will kill you for that!"

"Hey let him go!" Sakura shouted.

"Why should I? He ran into me!"

"Let me go it was an accident!" Konohamaru said trying to get free.

"Accident or not you have to pay!" Bring his fist back the unknown ninja swung at Konohamaru but was stopped by Sasuke grabbing his arm.

"You heard him; it was an accident now let him go." Sasuke said quietly.

The ninja let Konohamaru go but then tried to strike Sasuke which missed thanks to Naruto pushing Sasuke out of the way and taking the blow for him right into his temple which was enough to stagger him. Before another punch could be thrown they all heard a voice that was filled with so much anger it sent a shiver down everyone's spine. "Kankurō, what do you think you are doing?"

Behind the ninja now named as Kankurō a kunoichi appeared and spoke, "What have you done now?" They finally got a good look at Kankurō now. Kankurō wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front and had brown. He also wears a black hood with cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead. The hood covered his hair completely. He also sported a triangular face-paint design and wore gloves.

They also got a look at the kunoichi that appeared behind him. She had dark green eyes and blond hair, which was gathered into four ponytails. Her outfit consists of a single light purple-coloured, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her headband around her neck.

"Look I am sorry ok." Kankurō said quickly as he looked up into the trees.

Team 7 and Konohamaru looked to where Kankurō looked and saw another ninja in the trees standing on a branch. He had pale skin, short, spiky hair that is brick-red and green eyes. What they picked up on was that he had two very notable traits in his appearance: firstly, he had tanuki-like black eye rings and secondly, he had the kanji "love" ,what looked like carved, on the left side of his forehead which was visible due to the forelocks being parted on the left side. He wore black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, three quarter length legs, and an open neck. With this, he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. With this leather band, he carried around a gourd on his back. He also wrapped his forehead protector over the band. "Give me a good reason why I should not kill you where you stand Kankurō."

"Look, Kankurō said he was sorry and he will not do something like this again." The kunoichi said softly trying to defuse the situation as quickly as possible.

"Yes I will not…"

"Shut up or I'll kill you." He then turned to Team 7 and spoke to them, "I apologise for my brother's actions. My name is Gaara, my brother whose name you know is Kankurō and my sister behind him is Temari."

"My name is Sasuke, the one who took a punch from Kankurō is Naruto," Naruto at this shook the cobwebs out of his head and stood beside Sasuke as Sakura stood by them as well, "and her name is Sakura. What are you doing here?"

"We are here for the Chunin Exams." Temari said, "You should know that since this is your village."

"We do but even guests know to be nice to the hosting village's citizens." Naruto shot back loudly.

"Again I apologise for that incident. We are going." Gaara said as they walked past them before whispering, "Mother tells me you are strong. For that reason alone she craves your blood." He then walked off slowly as Sasuke and Naruto looked at him strangely.

"What do you think he was on about?"

"I don't know Naruto but to be honest, I don't like it."

Sakura was shaken by the words spoken by Gaara but she pulled herself together. "Guys we better go to the exam room now or we will be late."

* * *

Kakashi was waiting patiently near the exam room when he heard someone coming up the stairs. He glanced over and saw his three students which made him smile behind his mask as he started speaking, "I see you all came today. That is good news then."

"Why do you say that Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked him.

"Well these tests cannot be taken unless you are in a three man team, so if even one of you did not want to take part then the entire team could not take part." The Genin of Team 7 looked at him with surprise at this.

"So…we never had a choice?" Sakura said softly.

"No you did but that choice would have affected the whole team. The reason I never told you was because I did not want anyone on this team to be bullied by the other members into taking this exam if they did not feel ready or if one person was not ready and they felt obliged to take part just to help the others. Since you all made the choice by yourself that means that you are ready as individuals and as a team to take the Chunin Exam." Kakashi gave them all his eye smile before saying, "Now into the exam room or you will be late. Good luck."

Walking into the room they saw quite a few Genin from the Leaf before a mass of platinum blonde hair collided with Sasuke hard knocking him slightly backwards. "SASUKE-KUN!"

Naruto sighed before he started to count in his head, _"Three, two, one."_

"INO-PIG GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SASUKE-KUN!"

Naruto just shuck his head at the sight, _"They never change.", _before he saw the others move towards them. "Hey guys."

"Glad to see you took this exam with us as well." Chōji said.

"It's troublesome if you ask me. Though it is good to see you here as well Naruto." Shikamaru said with his hands behind his head as the other Genin that they had come to know came to see them.

"Yeah, the Rookie 12 are taking the exam together." Kiba shouted making everyone in the room look at them.

"You lot are so loud." They saw someone speak to them who held what looked like a pack of blank cards as he walked towards them. He had black eyes with grey hair kept in a ponytail and wore circular glasses. He wore a dark purple shirt with a white undershirt and a white obi around his waist worn at an angle, dark purple pants, blue sandals, and a shuriken holster on his right leg. He wore a Konoha forehead protector and dark purple gloves with open fingers and a metal plate covering where his knuckles would be.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY FOUR EYES?" Kiba shouted which just drew even more attention to themselves.

"I said that you lot are so loud. You might want to keep it down; you're drawing too much attention to yourselves. And you do not want to do that, even if three of you do have a bit more experience than the others. The reason I am saying to not draw attention to yourselves is because this exam makes everyone tense. Rub someone up the wrong way and they will start trying to take you out."

"And you are?" Shikamaru asked.

"Ah forgive me for not telling you sooner. My name is Kabuto Yakushi and this is my seventh time taking this exam." Kabuto said with a smile.

"Seventh?" Naruto remarked.

"Well the exam is held twice a year so this is my forth year taking the Chunin exam." He replied while scratching the back of his head.

"It is as the rumours say then. This test is tough." Shikamaru said.

"Yes this test is tough. But since you are all rookies I can give you some insider tips with my Ninja Info Cards." Kabuto pulled out a deck of cards and placed them on the floor in front of them all.

"I have never seen them before." Neji said as he looked at them to try and figure out how they worked.

"You are only Rookies so it is understandable you have not seen them before. These look like ordinary cards with a blank face. However I have collected information through out these tests about the candidates and the villages they have come from as well as how many have come from each village just by adding my Chakra to it." Kabuto spoke as he places a single card on the floor.

"You can do that?" Hinata said very quietly.

Rather than answering the question he placed his finger on the card as it started to spin around and then stop as an image appeared of the Ninja Lands and showed the percentage of Genin from each village that was taking part. "You see?"

"You said that they can show info on candidates, does that include any Ninja?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

"Of course. Someone perk your interest?"

"Gaara and a Ninja from Konoha called Shinigami." As soon as Sasuke said this Naruto shifted slightly thinking the worst.

"_What if it shows that it is me that is behind Shinigami's mask?"_

"Ok first off Gaara." He did the same process as before to make it showed all the information he had on Gaara. "Let's see. Gaara from the village Suna also known as "Gaara no Sabaku". Hmmmm not much information on his skills but his mission experience shows that he has completed eight C Rank missions and one B Rank mission and...in all of his missions he has not even received a scratch." Kabuto said with a slight shock on his face which did not live up to the shock on the Rookie's faces at the thought of a Genin not receiving on a single scratch on a mission let alone a B Rank mission.

"Now onto this Ninja you call Shinigami." Again he did exactly the same but this time it showed Shinigami, "Shinigami. Not much information on him that if for sure. Not even a record on what missions he has done. Just says that he is a Konoha Nin and that he is the force that has been taking out the Hollow infestation that has gripped the village recently."

"Hollow. We keep hearing that word but what are they?" Ino asked.

Kabuto looked through his deck before pulling out a card and pouring his Chakra into it as so that the Rookies could read about Hollows. When they read about them all of them except Naruto paled at them and realised what they were once.

"That really is horrible." Tenten said.

"_If only you knew how horrible it is." _Naruto thought.

Before they could find out any more from Kabuto about the other candidates they were drawn to look at the front of the room as it looked like someone had set of a smoke bomb as they heard someone speak, "All right you baby faced degenerates, PIPE DOWN AND LISTEN UP!"

As the smoke cleared they saw a group of Konoha Ninja but they saw what looked like the leader of the group. He was an imposing man who wore a black trench coat over a grey shirt and dark grey pants. He wore gloves with metal over the area where the knuckles should be, his Konoha hand band was more like a bandana that covered the top of his head covering his hair but what got everyone's attention was the two scars on the man's face. One was over the left side of his face reaching down past over the left side of his mouth and the other started just under his right eye and reached to under his right ear. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino your proctor for this part of the exam and from this moment your worst enemy."

Everyone looked at Ibiki in shock before he spoke again, "Now you all receive a slip of paper when you handed your application forms. Please hand these in to me and you will receive a number. This number determines where you will sit. As soon as everyone is seated we will start the written part of this exam."

"W…w…written exam?" Naruto paled as soon as he saw the exam papers.

"Naruto, don't worry. We will figure something out." Sakura said quiet.

* * *

After everyone was seated Sasuke started to get worried at the situation. _"Damn it. Both Sakura and me are too far away from Naruto to help him out. This is bad."_

"_Why? Why did it have to be a written test? Why?" _Naruto was panicking so much that he did not notice Hinata sitting next to him. That and the Kyūbi started talking to him.

"**Kit if it is something I can help with, I will you know."**

"_I know."_

"Urm…Naruto are you ok?"

"Oh Hinata, it's nothing to worry about." Naruto replied while faking his best grin.

"Ok well…urm good luck."

"Good luck to you to Hinata."

"Alright now, there are a few rules for this part of the exam. Also no one is allowed to answer a question so listen first time around because I will NOT be repeating myself." Ibiki stated as he started to write on the board with a piece of chalk.

"_No questions?" __**"WHAT TYPE OF RULE IS THAT?"**_ Both Sakura and Inner Sakura thought.

"Ok rule number one. This exam is on a point reduction system. Every candidate will start with the maximum score which is ten points. If you answer a question incorrectly or miss one out you get a point deducted. For example if you miss or answer five questions incorrectly then you get five points." Ibiki said as he wrote the first rule down for everyone to see.

"Rule number two. Teams will pass or fail on the total score of all three members." As soon as this was wrote down and said everyone gasped.

"_Ok so far if me and Sakura can get a perfect score and Naruto still gets a zero then we can still pass this part."_ Sasuke thought.

"Rule number three. The Chunin positioned around the room are here to watch you all carefully for any signs of cheating. If a candidate is caught cheating then they will remove two points from that candidate's score. I will warn you all now, these Chūnin's eyes are extremely sharp and if they catch the same candidate five times you will be dismissed. Those who get caught cheating by the Chunin do not deserve to be in this exam. So show us all what exceptional Ninja you are." Ibiki said smiling sinisterly. "On and one more thing if a candidate gets a zero and fails this test then the entire team fails as well."

At this moment Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all had the same thought go through their heads at the same time. _"SHIT!"_

"The final question will not be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You all have one hour total. And…BEGIN!"

* * *

Naruto just stared at his test with a blank look on his face as he glanced at the clock. Forty four minutes had passed already, 14 teams had been booted because of cheating and his one chance to pass this exam he blew it by being "noble" because he did not want Hinata to get into trouble and possibly lose her chance to become a Chūnin. _"Damn it what do I do?"_

"**Maybe…your only hope lays with question ten Kit?"**

"_It is worth a shot Kyūbi. I might have more luck with that one."_

"Alright here is the tenth and final question. But now that you have got this far there are a few more rules that only apply to this question, so try to not let them frighten you. Rule number one is you can choose if you want to answer this question or not. However if you choose not to answer it then regardless of your answers to the other nine questions you will automatically get a zero so you and your teammates will fail." Ibiki had a sinister look on his face as everyone started to whisper amongst themselves.

"_Time for the knockout blow." _"However if you choose to take the tenth question and answer incorrectly then you will not only fail but…YOU WILL BE BARRED FROM TAKING THE Chūnin EXAMS FOR LIFE!" The look on everyone's faces said it all for Ibiki as he grinned.

"HEY THAT IS BULL! THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM BEFORE!" Kiba shouted out with Akamaru giving a yap in agreement with his partner.

"Well that is unlucky for you then because I was not making the rules last time. Though if you do not want to take the question then you do not have to. You can try again next time." Ibiki said with a neutral look on his face.

Several teams had backed out after hearing the rules for the final question as Naruto started to have a fit on what to do. _"What now? Ether I give up and fail my team with me or I lose my chance at becoming a Chunin ever again and with that goes my dream of becoming Hokage."_

"**Kit I know what you are thinking and you are stronger than this. Do not back out now."**

"_But Kyūbi what if I fail and…"_

"**DON'T THINK LIKE THAT! And do NOT even think of putting your hand up. If you do I will fight for control and make sure you keep your hand lowered!"**

Naruto, ignoring Kyūbi's advice, started to put his hand up slowly as Sasuke looked on in shock. _"Naruto? You are really going to throw the towel in now? This is not like you. You never give up so don't give up now."_

"_Naruto please put your hand up. I know you want to become Hokage and I know you do not stand a chance. Please put your hand up. We can always try again next year." _Sakura though softly.

"**I WON'T LET YOU GIVE UP SO EASILY!" **The Kyūbi started to wrestle control of Naruto's arm before slamming it down hard on the desk.

"What is wrong? Change your mind?" Ibiki said looking right a Naruto.

"Sorry about that. I was having second thoughts but it is ok now. Even if I am stuck as a Genin forever I will still achieve my goal of becoming Hokage. Nothing, not even a stupid question, will ever stop me from that." Naruto stated looking directly into Ibiki's eyes.

"Hmmm." Ibiki looked at the other Chunin as they all nodded. _"Looks like that little speech gave everyone the courage to stay. What an interesting kid." _"Alright. Then all that is left for me to say is…you all pass the first part of the exam."

"WHAT!"

"But how come we never got the tenth question?"

"You did and you all answered correctly. The first part of the exam was to test your information gathering skills. The test was designed to force you to cheat but depending on how good you are at it without getting caught was what we were looking for. Always remember that good information gathering can save your village but you have to see if it is good information. Misinformation can be worse than no information as it can cost the lives of your comrades and your village, which is why I had two Chūnin sit in with you disguised as Genin with the correct answers so you could have someone to cheat off." Ibiki stated before continuing.

"The second part of the exam is like a real life situation that Chūnin face every mission they take. Do they take the easy option and try again another time or do they go for it regardless of the risks that could cost them everything? All of you here who stayed and wanted to risk it all proved to me that you all could become Chūnin. And for that I wish you good luck on your…"Ibiki stopped and looked out of the window as a ball smashed through the window which resulted in a banner being hung up covering the front to the room as someone was there crouched.

The banner said 'Here Comes The Second Test's Proctor: Anko Mitarashi' but they were soon drawn to the woman who stood up from the crouched position giving them a good look at her. She wore a tan overcoat, complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs. She wore a dark orange mini-skirt on top of the mesh body suit, as well as a forehead protector, a small pendant that looks like a snake fang on a thick cord, a wrist watch, and shin guards. She had light brown, pupil-less eyes and she had violet hair that was done up in a short, somewhat spiky ponytail. She also wore a dark blue belt around her waist that connects to her skirt that has an appendage-like sash. "I am your next Proctor from the Chunin exams, Anko Mitarashi. So stop celebrating because the next part of the test begins now!"

"You're early…again Anko." Ibiki said as he came out from behind the banner at which Anko sweat dropped.

"Hang on…you let this many pass? Ibiki are you getting soft or is your test getting easier?" Anko said with a little anger.

"Maybe or maybe this lot have got what it takes to pass and become Chunin." Ibiki said with a smile on his face.

"Maybe but it does not matter. After I am through with them they will be cut in half. Now listen up maggots, I will inform your squad leaders where you will be taking the second part of the test tomorrow. So until then DISMISSED!"

* * *

Ibiki was collecting the test papers in when he picked one up and suddenly smiled. "Well looks like I passed someone who did not answer a single written question. He truly is an interesting kid."

* * *

"So you are telling me Naruto is up for promotion?"

"That is correct Urahara."

"Well I hope he won't mind if I sort out a temporary replacement for his Soul Reaper duties until he had passed then Hokage?"

"Please call me Hiruzen."

"Ok but only if you call me Kisuke then."

"And we have a team of ANBU on hand to defeat the Hollows." Hiruzen said while he smoked his pipe.

"I can understand that but can they take out a Hollow in a single strike?" Kisuke asked while he took a sip of some tea.

"No, but with the 8 of them the Hollows will be no match." Hiruzen replied softly.

"Ok. I hope you don't mind if I come and help out then, since I am a Soul Reaper myself. I can take the load off your ANBU so to speak." A smile graced Kisuke's face.

"I think that would work. As soon as Naruto finishes the second part of the exam he is back in charge. Until then you and my 8 ANBU will keep the Hollows at bay."

* * *

And that is Chapter 9 done. Sorry it took longer than expected. But with losing another job and looking for another one some things have to get pushed back. Though I will say this, a late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Now onto the Review Responses:

NARUTO1: Thank you for saying that.

raveman2: If Kon sets his sights on anyone in Naruto's world urm he might not live though it lol.

Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: Thank you for saying that though Naruto never actually met Rukia. He saw her and he thinks she saw him and that is it lol. And I hope this is quick enough.

Namikaze naruko14: Thank you for saying that too.

Until next time

Reven of Darkness


	10. The Chūnin Exams: Part 2

The Soul Reaper of Konoha

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. If I did...well let's just say that Naruto would be totally different but Bleach would be about the same. I only kidnapped them to put them in situations for your own entertainment.**

A/N: Chapter 10 everyone. I am sad that TokyoTV cancelled Bleach before the Final Arc and replaced it with a Rock Lee Spin Off. WHAT THE HELL? Though if the reason is so the manga can get further ahead (Even though it has 9 – 10 years left) then that is fine but if not then SCREW YOU TOKYOTV YOU IDIOTS! Also I have had severe writers block with part of this chapter but I am on holiday on a canal barge and we have an internet connection so I can update when this is finished.

On with the story.

"Yo" Speaking

_"Yo" Thought_

**"Yo" Demon Speaking**

_**"Yo" Demon Though**_

* * *

The Chūnin Exams: Part 2 The Forest and The Tower

Morning came a little too quickly for some Genin that some of them were nervous about the next part of the exam. Finding out from their Jōnin instructors that they had to be at Training Ground 44 at 8am unnerved them because Training Ground 44 had been given another name which was 'The Forest of Death' and its reputation made it live up to its name. Well one Genin was not worried about what he heard about the dreaded Training Ground 44 because he would pass this and become a Chūnin. Naruto was at the entrance with his team and the other Chūnin candidates waiting for the test to start, though his meeting with the Hokage set his mind at ease about one thing. Learning that Kisuke and a squad of 8 ANBU would deal with the Hollows that would appear, if any appeared that is, for the time that he was doing this part of the test.

"This place…it really creeps me out." Sakura said as she shuddered.

"You should be creeped out by it. They do call it The Forest of Death for a reason. And pretty soon you are all going to find out why." Anko said with a sinister smirk on her face creeping out more of the candidates.

Naruto huffed before he did an impersonation of Anko which drew everyone's attention. "They do call it The Forest of Death for a reason. And pretty soon you are all going to find out why." Naruto looked at Anko with a stare as he spoke again. "YOU THINK THAT SCARES ME? THAT'S NOTHING! I AM NOT AFRAID!"

"Wow you really are spirited just like Ibiki said." Anko said with a smile before she threw a kunai towards Naruto aiming to skim his cheek and draw some blood. Seeing at the last second though Naruto's new reflexes kicked in and he managed to dodge the Kunai, feeling the very tip of the blade brush past his skin so lightly that it did nothing but graze the skin very lightly. Anko did not realise this until she was behind him and grabbed him in a hold. "No blood? That is a real shame. I was looking forward to seeing what you tasted like but it looks like you have some skill so maybe you might just live after all." Anko said with a sick smile as she licked his cheek right where the kunai was meant to cut which creeped Naruto out. Her attention was taken away from him as she pulled another kunai out ready to defend herself when she saw a tongue holding a kunai extend a towards her.

"Here is your kunai." The Grass Nin said.

"Why thank you." Anko said as she took the other kunai and turned to look at the Nin. "But remember this; don't sneak up behind me unless you want me to kill you." Anko said with a sweet smile but noticed that the Nin hid their face with the hat they were wearing.

"Noted but I just got excited when you cut my hair that I could not help myself, though if you had drew blood from him I would have lost it." The Grass Nin said as their tongue slowly slithered back into their mouth.

"Well looks like we have some blood thirsty candidates in this test this year. This should be fun." Anko giggle with what everyone thought was delight before speaking again. "Now then, before we start the second test there's something I have to pass out to you all." She pulled out some pieces of paper and started to hand them out. "You all have to sign these agreement forms as there will be deaths in this part of the exam and if you do no sign these forms…well I will be liable." Anko said with an innocent and sweet smile on her face.

"_So we are allowed to kill in this part of the exam. This is bad we might have to kill people we know." _Sasuke thought in horror.

"Now to explain this part, it is the ultimate survival test. There are 44 locked gates all around the ground. The ground consists of a forest, a river that runs right through the ground and a tower in the centre. From each gate it is about 10 kilometres to the tower or just over 6 miles. During the survival in here you will be asked to complete a certain task which is a no rules scroll battle. All of your weapons and Jutsu are allowed." Anko at this moment pulled out two scrolls to show everyone. The white one had the Kanji for Heaven on it and the black one had the Kanji for Earth on it. "You will be fighting over these two scrolls, the Heaven and Earth scroll."

Naruto started to take a look at the others at that point. If this was going to be a fight for scrolls then he would need to look for one thing. A weak team that was not from Konoha to take out and take the scroll they needed.

"Now then there are 26 teams so 13 of you will get the Heaven Scroll and the other 13 of you will get the Earth Scroll. To pass you and your team must get to the tower at the centre of the grounds with both scrolls meaning 13 teams will fail. Also there is a time limit of 5 days on this part of the exam." She explained to everyone there.

"What about food?" Chōji shouted.

"Well you will have to hunt for it." Anko said as if it was nothing. "Now if you do not reach the tower within 5 days with both scrolls you will fail. If you lose a teammate or one of your teammates is killed you will fail. If you open your scrolls before you get to the tower you will fail and there will be a…surprize if you do. This will test your trustworthiness. Also you cannot quit in the middle of the test. Once you are in, you are in for 5 days. That is it, now sign your forms and hand them in for a scroll then head to a gate. I will give you one bit of advice though…don't die."

Naruto noticed that the hut they handed the forms in to get the scroll was covered with a curtain. _"So we cannot see which team gets which scroll or who is holding it. This just sucks. I wonder how we will play it though?"_ Naruto thought to himself as his team picked up the Heaven Scroll. As they headed to gate 12 they stood waiting till the gate was opened for them. As soon as the instructor opened the gate Team 7 dashed straight into the grounds and picked up the pace. "What should we do first?" Naruto asked.

"I think the best option is to try and find a team as quick as possible so we can get the Earth Scroll. After that we can head straight to the tower." Sasuke replied.

"Sounds good Sasuke-kun."

"Hang on."

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura shouted.

"I need to take a leak." Naruto said before stopping and heading behind the trees.

"Hurry up. The quicker we can get to the tower and get a scroll, the quicker we can complete this part of the test." Sasuke shouted.

* * *

It was not long before Naruto returned, though Sasuke picked up on something as Naruto spoke. "Ahhh that's better. Sorry I took longer than I thought." Before anything else could be said thought Sasuke punched him hard in the face sending him back a few feet. "What did you do that for?"

"Where is Naruto?" Sasuke said with a glare.

"I am Naruto!"

"Naruto's right handed yet your shuriken holder is on your left leg. You suck worse than him." Sasuke stated.

"How unlucky, you have discovered me. No matter…which one of you has the scroll?" The Rain Nin said as he dropped his disguise and charged at them throwing kunai at them.

Sasuke avoided the attack as Sakura managed to get out of the way as Sasuke made hand signs before he shouted, "FIRE STYLE: PHOENIX FLOWER JUTSU!" Several fireballs flew towards the Rain Nin who managed to dodge them all with ease. As Sasuke chased the Nin down he noticed that the Nin was on his own before Naruto kicked the Nin in his stomach. Sasuke seeing his chance grabbed a kunai, and saw that Naruto did as well before both of them plunged each weapon into each arm of the Rain Nin causing him to scream out in pain.

The Rain Nin managed to push them both away, making them remove their kunai in the process. _"I thought I would be lucky if I came on my own. But it looks like it cost me."_ As he landed he ran off into the forest no doubt towards his group.

"Even if you are always late when coming to the rescue, it was nice of you to finally show up." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Sorry about that, he got me when I was on my way back." Naruto said with his hands behind his head.

"Did you both really have to go that far though?" Sakura asked.

"We had to Sakura; he was willing to kill us to get information. Just like Ibiki said so we have to be willing to do the same…no matter who it is we face. Though it might be wise if we do not separate again, it would make us easy targets." Sasuke said as they started off again towards the tower again.

"Ok then but what happens if we do get separated again?"

"Naruto for once you brought up a valid point. Ok we will make a code word then. When asked Nin Song 'Nin Machine' reply with 'A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of the Shinobi, hide and remain silent. A Shinobi must understand the proper time, when the enemy is tired an ill prepared.' If someone gets it wrong you will be treated like the enemy no matter what you look like. Ok?" Sasuke said.

"Memorized." Sakura said.

"Can you not make it just that little bit easier for me Sasuke?" Naruto pouted as they kept running.

"Sorry Naruto but that is the code word." Sasuke said. "I will hold the scroll." At this Naruto nodded and threw the scroll to Sasuke who caught it. "Next time pass it Dobe. Someone could have stolen it that way."

"Sorry, just nervous."

"We all are."

Sakura however felt that something was wrong. When she looked to her left an explosion right next to her blasted her away as well as Sasuke and Naruto. "Ouch that hurt." Sakura slowly got to her feet, still dazed by the blast, and headed to where the explosion was. Luckily for her she bumped into Sasuke almost straight away. "Sasuke-kun."

"Sakura…? Stay away. Nin Song 'Nin Machine'." Sasuke said with a kunai drawn. Sakura nodded at replied with the correct response which caused Sasuke to relax. "Good now we need to find Naruto."

"No need here I am." Naruto replied.

"Naruto, Nin Song 'Nin Machine'." Sasuke said quickly. Naruto correctly said the code word much to Sakura's delight but Sasuke threw the kunai he had in his hand at Naruto. "Who the hell are you, fake?"

"Sasuke-kun what are you talking about? He got it right." Sakura said in shock.

Naruto dodged before dropping the transformation and revealing the Grass Nin from before. "Interesting, how did you know I was the fake even though I said the code word correctly? Enlighten me please."

"I knew someone was listening to us as we were traveling, so I made the code word like that on purpose. The reason is simple; Naruto would never be able to remember a song that long so quickly. So you had to be the fake." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"I applaud you then, 'Nether tired nor ill prepared' are we? Looks like I will enjoy this after all." The Grass Nin said in praise.

* * *

"Man where the hell am I?" Naruto looked around as he sat up slowly. "Damn I really took a knock to the head." Naruto shook his head before his pager bleeped. "What now?" As he opened it he saw an order. "Why does this have to happen to me?" Quickly he found a cave to hide his body while he was facing the incoming Hollow, took out his badge so he could switch and walked out of the cave while drawing his Zanpakutō. "Alright where are you going to appear?"

"**Behind you kit."**

Naruto managed to dodge the attack and get a look at the Hollow. It looked almost snake like apart from the arms it was using to raise itself off the ground and the mask that made it look like it had a human skull for a head. His thoughts however shifted to the fact that he was lifted off the ground and a huge pressure was applied to his chest. To his horror he saw that a giant snake had him in its grasp and was about to eat him whole. "Put me down damn it!" The snake however just did what it was told to do and swallowed Naruto whole but as it finished the Hollow attacked the snake and tried to grab its head. "Yuck, I need to get out of here." He tried to move his arm with his blade and ended up cutting into the snake's insides slightly making Naruto notice and smirk.

* * *

"I take it you want my Earth Scroll since you have the Heaven Scroll." The Grass Nin said before the tongue wrapped around the scroll and the Grass Nin swallowed it. "Come and get it then by fighting me to the death."

Suddenly Sasuke noticed the Nin's eyes seemed to…he did not know but suddenly his mind was occupied because he was frozen by fear. He managed look at Sakura who was on her knees shedding tears filled with fear. _"Sakura, she is lost in the fear. So much Killing Intent from just the eyes, I need to do something or we are going to die."_ Through determination only Sasuke managed to grab a kunai from his pouch his arm shaking still.

"_He is still able to move with this amount of Killing Intent? He is impressive." _The Nin remarked before grabbing several kunai and throwing them right at the two frozen Genin. "Now stay still!" Sasuke managed to move just enough to stab himself in the thigh, activate his Sharingan to allow him to dodge the kunai and grab Sakura so they could get away to safety. "Well well I was right about him, I will enjoy this hunt."

* * *

Naruto was struggling to position his Zanpakutō so he could gut the snake. "Just a bit more." Feeling the resistance suddenly give way a bit he smiled and was able to thrust the blade through the snake's skin. The snake flinched in pain as it finished striking the Hollow in the head with its tail and looked down causing the Hollow to stop and look as well. The next thing the snake felt was extreme pain as the blade cut through the skin like it was nothing, killing the snake instantly as the blade cut through the heart as well.

Naruto crawled out slowly covered in the snake's blood with a grin on him as he looked at the dead snake. "Nothing will stop me from achieving my dreams. Not this exam, not the other Genin and not a stupid snake like you!" The Hollow seeing Naruto was distracted tried to go for the killing blow so it could eat him; unfortunately for it Naruto turned around with a look on his face that he had the first time he became a Soul Reaper that scared the Hollow but this time his eyes started to glow red as his Spiritual Pressure started to surround him and was the same red as his eyes. "And that also goes for any stupid Hollows like YOU!" Naruto swung his Zanpakutō with all of his strength upwards through the ground and cleaved the Hollow perfectly in half. The Hollow flew back and hit the ground hard before it started to dissolve. Naruto then sheathed his blade on his back before shaking his head and looking at the damage he did to the ground. "Wow where did that come from? I will worry about it later; I need to find Sakura-Chan and Sasuke-Teme." He got to his body and quickly went back inside of it before trying to find his teammates.

* * *

Sasuke was looking around to try and see if that Nin was following them before removing the kunai from his thigh and speaking to Sakura. "Listen Sakura, we need to find Naruto and then run away from this this Nin." He was not even looking at her when he said this so he did not see what was starting to appear behind her.

"But Sas…"

Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand as he looked at her with a serious look in his eyes. "I mean it, this is too much for us to handle. If we fight we will die." Sasuke looked back behind him before Sakura moved his hand.

"Sasuke, SNAKE!"

Sasuke managed to push Sakura out of the way before jumping up high to avoid the giant snake. Thinking he had outsmarted it his face suddenly dropped when the snake started to follow right after him. Thinking fast he threw several shuriken at the snake to pin it to the tree branch below before landing on another branch. _"I got so caught up in looking for that Nin we nearly got taken out by a snake."_ The two Genin had a look of shock however when the snake seemed to pulse near the head.

The Grass Nin that had attacked them burst out of the snake with a sick smile on their face. "You should always keep your guard up. Prey should always be looking to run a way when a predator has its sights on them." The Nin then slithered around and up the branch towards Sasuke before being abruptly stopped by several kunai and shuriken.

"Sasuke…" All three of the Nin looked up and saw Naruto. Sakura had a look of joy on her face at the sight of Naruto, Sasuke still had fear on his when he saw Naruto and the Nin just looked at him intrigued. "…sorry I forgot the code word. That and I had to deal with a giant snake that swallowed me whole." Naruto said with a smile on his face.

"Naruto get out of here right now! This Nin is too strong for us to handle and will kill us all!" Sasuke shouted.

"_Wait a minute; this Nin looks like a snake. So could that mean he sent that snake after me?" _Naruto thought before he spoke again with a smile on his face. "Sasuke we won't know if we don't try will we?"

Sasuke ignored Naruto and shut off his Sharingan as he said something that shocked his teammates, "I will give you our scroll in exchange for our lives. Take it and go."

"WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto screamed.

"Clever…the only way for prey to escape from a predator is to give it a different meal." The Nin said with a smile.

"Take it then and leave us alone." Sasuke then threw the scroll but before it could reach its target it was snatched out of the air by Naruto. "NARUTO YOU DOBE, DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM DOING HERE?" Sasuke was shocked again as he was punched full force by Naruto sending him flying. "Have you LOST IT?"

"Sasuke…you are an imposter."

"What the hell are you on about? I am the real Sasuke!"

"NO YOU ARE NOT! The reason is because the Sasuke I know would not act like such a coward. I do not know how strong he is but how do you know if he will let us live after you give him our scroll? You are not thinking right because you are scared! Also you told me never to throw the scroll or someone could steal it, like I just did." Naruto said with anger in his eyes but with a huge smile on his face at the last comment.

"Naruto-Kun is right. I do not need you to give me the scroll when I can just kill you and take it." The Nin wiped some blood on his arm over some symbols before shouting, "SUMMONING JUTSU!"

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto dashed off to try and stop him ignoring Sasuke and Sakura telling him to stop.

Naruto was suddenly hit hard and sent flying into a tree as he coughed up blood causing Sasuke and Sakura to both shout out "NARUTO!"

The Nin was standing on top of a snake that was bigger than the others alone. "Eat him and this time; make sure that he does not escape." The snake darted towards Naruto who ended up dodging somehow.

"EAT THIS!" Naruto slammed his foot into the snake's lower jaw knocking it back but not before everyone saw that his whisker marks had darkened, his nails changed to claws, his canines had grown into fangs and his eyes looked animalistic.

* * *

Deep inside Naruto in a landscape that looked like a dull and destroyed Konoha, stood a single man on top of what looked like Naruto's Zanpakutō handle which was impaled into a building that looked like the Hokage Tower. **"It is happening again Kurama. Please try and help Naruto or I fear that your dark half will try and take his body right now."**

"**I will try ******."**

The man looked as a building collapsed and was removed from the skyline. **"When you are like this Naruto or you are hurt by the villages, the buildings fall and the village gets smaller. I do not know if you we can ever get back the true form of this world again but every time this happens…it makes me sad and angry."** The man then lowered his head slowly.

* * *

"_So this is the…"_ The Nin thought as Naruto tried to get close to attack again but was blasted away by the snake. _"He is the Jinchūriki of the fox."_

"_Naruto has lost it but he is so strong." _Sakura thought as he landed hard but got right back up again ready to attack.

"_This is the Dobe? But he is the Dead Last." _Sasuke thought in shock.

The Nin seeing Naruto try again blew what looked like smoke and debris right at him, knocking him away further. "Now it is your turn Sasuke!" The Snake darted towards Sasuke who froze with fear and could not move.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

The snake stopped dead before reaching Sasuke, as it was being held back by Naruto using his body and two kunai before speaking. "Hey, are you ok scaredy-cat?" Sasuke suddenly remembered he had said that to Naruto when he froze up on the Mission to Wave but what struck him the most was the eyes Naruto had that it scared him. Before anything else could be said Naruto was lifted off his feet by the Nin's tongue. "Hey, let me go DAMNIT!"

"Ah so you are the Jinchūriki of the Nine Tailed Fox then. When your emotions are heightened the Fox's Chakra overflows, very interesting." The Nin said barely above a whisper before using their tongue to lift Naruto's shirt up as the Nin's finger tips started to glow purple. "And there is the seal which will make this a lot easier. FIVE PART SEAL!"

Just as the hand was apart to connect Kurama released a lot of Chakra to try and disrupt the seal as did Yami Kurama who also did something else. With a sick grin he implanted something inside the Chakra he released into Naruto to disrupt the seal and would only grow in strength. When the hand connected the Nin noticed difficulty in completing the seal but what shocked him even more was Naruto's eyes shifted making the whites of his eyes black and his irises yellow with black pupils. He managed to finish the seal but Naruto broke out of his hold and managed to claw the Nin in the face while screaming in a high pitched voice that scared everyone. As the Nin moved away Naruto started shaking before his eyes suddenly turned back to his normal blue. "What the…hell did you do to me?"

The Nin just smiled before the Nin noticed the skin on his face had a few tears in it. Thinking the disguise had lived out its usefulness the Nin ripped the face off and showed the three Genin what he finally looked like. He had an extremely pale-skinned face, amber eyes with slits in them and purple markings around his eyes making him look like a snake. His nose looked like it was flat from the front and the nostrils looked like slits which added to the snake like appearance. "So now you know what I really look like. Well at least let me tell you who I really am. My name is Orochimaru, one of the three Legendary Sannin." Orochimaru said with a smile.

"I don't care who you are just tell me, what do you want and what have you done to me?" Naruto shouted as he started to get dizzy and stumbled a bit.

Orochimaru just looked at him before speaking. "What I have done to you is make you weaker by sealing your…tenant. As for what I want, well I want…" His tongue then slowly licked his lips as Naruto clutched his stomach in pain falling to the floor. Seeing that Sakura and Sasuke where trying to find out what was wrong with their teammate Orochimaru made his neck stretch and extended it towards them shouting, "…IS SASKUE!" Sasuke not thinking straight, turned to face Orochimaru when he heard his name but regretted it when he was bitten by the Sannin on his neck.

As Orochimaru retreated back to himself Sasuke felt a tremendous amount of pain flow through his body as he dropped to his knees. Sakura went to him and saw that three symbols slowly started to appeared right where he had been bitten had appeared. "What did you do to him?" Sakura shouted.

"I gave Sasuke a going away present. He will be seeing me soon." Orochimaru laughed as he sunk into the giant snake before it disappeared back to where ever it came from.

Naruto slipped into unconscious as Sasuke screamed in pain as the three symbols slowly became clearer and started to look like Sharingan tomes. Sakura looked at them both in horror as one thought passed through her mind. _"What should I do?"_

* * *

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and sat up and saw himself on top of the Hokage Tower in a dull world. He looked around and saw that it was Konoha but it was destroyed with most buildings in ruins and the Hokage Monument was nothing but rocks. He stood up slowly and spoke softly. "Where am I?"

"**I see you have finally come to see me." **

Naruto turned and saw that the man before him had a white cloak covering most of his body, a hood that covered most of his hair except a few bangs that were grey in colour, his eyes where solid coal black and his face had an aged look to him but apart from that Naruto saw not much else to him. "Sorry am I disturbing you?"

"**You still do not know, do you?"** The man asked.

"Know what?"

"**I thought so. Let me give you a hint." **The man suddenly pulled out of thin air Naruto's Zanpakutō making Naruto get on the defensive. **"Relax I am not going to hurt you."**

"Then why am I here?"

"**So we can finally meet. The Kyūbi has already spoken to me but he wanted you to see me for yourself because…"** The man threw Naruto his blade suddenly making Naruto struggle to catch it. **"…I am your Zanpakutō."**

"How is that possible a blade having a soul?"

"**It is the truth Kit."**

Naruto looked and saw Kyūbi in his cage on top of what used to be the Hokage Monument through what looked like a window. "Why did you not tell me?"

"**A Soul Reaper has to find out about his Zanpakutō spirit themselves or they would not strengthen the bond they have with their blade. Although to be honest, I did not know Zanpakutō's had spirits until I found yours." **Kyūbi said.

"**The Kyūbi is right Naruto; if you had met me through your tenant you would not be as strong as you will be when you next go into your Soul Form. But now we will do this bit properly, so please tell me your full name."** The spirit said.

"You know it already I am guessing but ok…my name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"**My name is Kurama."**

Naruto turned to Kurama and looked at him before speaking. "I did not think you had a name Ky…Kurama. I just thought it was Kyūbi." Naruto said sheepishly.

"**Most do Kit but I am used to it, so either Kyūbi or Kurama is fine."**

"**Now it is my turn. My name is ******."**

Naruto looked oddly at the spirit before speaking. "I just heard a high pitched noise and did not hear your name."

"**A pity but understandable. While you have come so far in such a short time the chances of you hearing my name were still slim. However I have a feeling you will hear my name soon Naruto Uzumaki. And when you do, you will know what a Soul Reaper can truly do." **The spirit looked at Naruto in the eyes with what looked like a small smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked before he suddenly felt himself leave this world.

"**Do come and visit me again soon Naruto."** The spirit's last words caused Naruto even more confusion before Kurama spoke one last time.

"**The seal that Orochimaru placed on you has been disrupted so I can still help, just not as much."**

* * *

Naruto slowly woke up and saw Shikamaru and Chōji staring at him. "Guys he is waking up."

"Naruto you had us worried you know." Chōji said.

"Is everyone ok? What about Orochimaru?"

"The Snake Sannin?" Shikamaru asked.

"He attacked us and did something to me and Sasuke. We managed to hold him off though." Naruto said.

"Are you telling me that both you AND Sasuke held off one of the Legendary SANNIN?" Ino said in what looked like awe.

Naruto slowly sat up but regretted that he did as he vomited. "Naruto take it easy." Shikamaru said as he helped him to his feet.

"Whatever he did to me, it is disrupting my Chakra." Naruto strained to said before his legs gave out and all his weight went onto Shikamaru before Chōji came and took some of the weight.

"We can get someone to take a look at you, Sasuke and Lee when you get to the tower." Shino said softly.

"Lee…what happened to him?" Naruto said quietly.

"He defended me and got really badly hurt by three Nin from Oto." Sakura quietly said as she helped Sasuke stand up.

Naruto looked over to her then looked confused. "What happened to your hair Sakura-Chan?"

"Oh urm…I decided I needed a new look and also long hair is not practical for a Ninja." She answered with a embarrassed look on her face but Naruto bought it.

Neji looked at Naruto with slight concern before turning his attention to Hinata with a look filled with hatred and anger but decided to keep quiet.

"We need to get moving, all of us. The tower is still a day or two away." Tenten stated before speaking again. "Lee needs to be fixed up and rest and you two need the same."

Sasuke who was quiet in all of this spoke up suddenly. "She is right. Do all of you have both scrolls?" Each team showed both the Heaven and Earth Scroll in their hands, though he did pick up on Neji acting strangely and looking towards Hinata but he dropped it before speaking. "Well we just got the Earth Scroll so let's head to the tower as a unit. The odds of being attacked for our scrolls will be reduced this way instead of going in just our teams."

* * *

Urahara looked around him with a worried expression on his face. He knew something was wrong but could not think of what it was that was causing it. Hollows come through all the time to feed but normally in small numbers or a few at once but since the start of the second test the number coming through was too many. As the ANUB finished off the latest Hollow and Urahara sheathed his blade he started to wonder what was making these Hollows attack. _"Could it be a…No why would it be a Menos Grande? Then what is it?"_

His thoughts were interrupted suddenly by one of the ANUB. "Behind you Urahara-San!"

Urahara not missing a beat turned around quickly while unsheathing his blade and slashed right through the Hollow's mask and head killing it instantly. "Thank you for the heads up Eagle."

Eagle nodded slightly as another member, Lion, spoke up. "What do you think is causing this?"

"Well there are several reasons why this could be happening. Unfortunately we will not be able to discover what is causing this until it is too late." Urahara said as he sheathed his blade again.

"Then how do we stop it?" Falcon asked.

"We don't. All we can do is prepare for whatever it is. I want you eight to stay in the village and take out any Hollows that might turn up before they kill someone."

"What about you Urahara-San?"

"I am going to inform our young friend Naruto of the situation. While this might affect the village it could affect him as well. I would like for him to be as prepared as us." Urahara said before dashing off towards Training Ground 44.

* * *

They had finally all arrived at the tower with two days left to spare, after taking the journey to the tower very slowly due to Lee's injuries. Naruto and Sasuke were able to walk on their own again after a day and a half which made the journey a bit easier. After they arrived they headed in to the towers main reception area and saw…nobody else. "Where is everybody? Are we the only ones that made it so far?" Ino asked.

Naruto shook his head softly before he thought of something. "Sakura get our other scroll and open it with me." Sakura had a puzzled look on her face before realising what Naruto meant and got the Earth Scroll out as Naruto got the Heaven Scroll out. Before anyone could stop them, they had opened them up.

"Nothing. What the…?" Naruto said disappointed.

Sasuke looked at the scrolls then had a look of shock on him as he spoke. "Naruto, Sakura drop the scrolls! They have a Summoning Jutsu on them!" Realising it themselves they both dropped the scrolls and jumped back as the Jutsu completed itself revealing Iruka standing there.

"Well there is more of you then I expected but I guess this will make it easier for me, though I will say it looks like you have all been though a tough time." Iruka said with a smile.

"What are you doing here Iruka-Sensei?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well at the end of the second test, it is set up so that the Chūnin can meet up with the exam takers and I was one of the ones allowed to greet you since you were all my students at some point or another. And you made it with two days to spare as well." Iruka explained before speaking again. "So all twelve of you pass the second test, congratulations."

"WE DID IT!"

The rest of the Genin just smiled as Naruto jumped up and down at Naruto's antics before Sasuke spoke up. "So if any of us had opened the scrolls before we got here what were you going to do Iruka-Sensei?" As he asked this the rest of the Genin took notice as Shikamaru smiled.

"You always where the sharp one Sasuke, just like me. Since it is a summoning scroll I gather Iruka Sensei would have done something to us to disable us form the rest of the exam as it was part of the test to see if we could follow orders to the letter. Correct?" Shikamaru stated with a smile on his face.

"Those where my exact orders Shikamaru. There is no fooling you." Iruka said with a smile.

"Sensei I forgot to ask but what is the meaning of the words on the wall? It is missing a word though." Tenten asked causing the others to notice the words too.

"It is the motto of the Chūnin written by Hokage-Sama. Heaven refers to the mind while Earth refers to the body. So 'If you lack Heaven seek wisdom, be prepared' would for example apply to Naruto. If his weakness is his brain then gain knowledge and prepare for them missions." Naruto pouted as some of the girls giggled.

"Not funny guys."

"Also 'If you lack Earth, run in the fields, seek advantages' So for example if Sakura and Ino both have low stamina then it is saying you must continue to train hard." Sakura and Ino blushed at this making Naruto smirk.

"And if you have both Heaven and Earth you can succeed in the most dangerous missions. So basically all missions become easy and safe." Iruka said before continuing again. "The missing word is the word 'person' which refers to Chūnin. The last sentence is 'These rules will guide a person's extremes.' These five days of survival were to test the candidate's basic abilities to become a Chūnin. The reason being is that we are at the rank of Military Captain, and are responsible of leading a team. Everything you have done here is needed for your duties so I want you guys to take the next challenge with this motto in mind. That is all I have to pass on to you all."

"Hai."

* * *

Naruto was taking a much needed rest after being seen to by the medics. The seal placed on him had been disrupted but no one knew how to remove it so for now Naruto would have to suffer. Lee was resting well had had been fixed up so that was one thing off his mind. Sasuke however refused to be seen as he said he was fine now but Naruto noticed he had taken a slightly darker turn. He could not put his finger on it but he knew he should be worried.

"Here you are."

Naruto smiled and turned around. "Hey Urahara-San. What are you doing here?"

"Well can I not come to see you, the newest Soul Reaper?" Urahara said with a smile on his face.

"True but it has to be a problem or you would not have come to see me during the test. I was told you and eight ANBU would take over till the test was over."

"Ok you got me. There is a problem and I have come to inform you of the Situation. Since you have started this part of the exam quite a few Hollows have been showing up. Now they are weak ones and seem to be cannon fodder which to me means something is coming." Urahara said with a serious face.

"And I take it there is a possibility it will come after me whatever it is." Naruto said.

"Correct or it could attack the village so I am just covering the bases and making sure you know about it. After all you are a Soul Reaper."

"Urahara before you go I need to ask…does a Zanpakutō have a spirit? I met someone claiming to be one."

"Was it inside you?"

"Yes it was. Kyu…sorry Kurama was there too and said it was true."

"_Kurama…interesting."_ Urahara looked at Naruto with a smile. "To answer your question yes all Zanpakutōs have spirits. That is how Soul Reapers get stronger by bonding with their spirits."

"Great just wanted to make sure in case it was some kind of trick or something."

"Well don't worry about it. It is natural though it is rare to have met your own one so early. Anyway you know about the situation now Naruto." Urahara smiled before he walked off. Naruto was left in the corridor as he thought of a plan to prepare.

"_He is becoming more like Ichigo every day."_

* * *

Two days had passed with a total of seven teams passing after the test had ended. "First of all, congratulations on passing this part of the exam." Anko said with a slightly disappointed look on her face. She was hoping more people would have been eliminated but she did say she would cut their numbers in half so that was a plus for her. "Now Hokage-Sama will explain the Third Test. So listen."

"Thank you Anko. Now before I explain that I would like to tell you all the true meaning of this exam." The Third said as he stood before the candidates and their Jōnin instructors. "'Why do we have all the allied countries take the exams together?' you might think to yourselves. 'To promote friendship among the countries?' Partly yes. 'To raise the level of Shinobi?" Again this is partly true, however I do not want to confuse you about the true meaning which is a replacement for war between the allied countries."

As the Genin started to mutter between each other after hearing this, the Third spoke again bringing the Genin to a sudden silence and listened once more. "What does that mean? If you go back in time all of the current allies where enemies fighting over who would rule. In order to prevent pointless battles, it then became the stage for the Chūnin exams."

"Now one reason for this exam is to see which candidates are eligible in becoming Chūnin. There is another side to the exam however, and that is each countries Shinobi put their lives on the line to protect their land's prestige. This is because watching the Third Exam will be leaders and influential individuals from all over the lands who make up the clients for the Shinobi." The Third then took a puff of his pipe before continuing. "Also the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If a country is seen as strong they will gain more clients. The downside is if a country is seen as weak then they will lose clients to another country."

As the Third was about to continue when a roar was heard around the room making the people who did not know start to become scared. Even Orochimaru, disguised as a Sound Jōnin, had a look of fear on his face. To the ones who knew what it was, mainly Naruto, they started looking around to see where it was coming from to attack. They did not have to wait long as a Hollow soon appeared right in front of the Hokage who showed no sign of fear on his face. As the Hollow was about to strike it suddenly stopped as Shinigami was behind it on one knee with his blade drawn. The Hollow soon split apart and began to dissolve as Shinigami stood up to his full height and rested his blade on his shoulder before turning to the Hokage. "Hokage-Sama are you alright?"

"I am fine, thank you Shinigami."

"Hey guys. Has anyone else noticed Shinigami-San's sword is bigger?" Ino spoke in a quiet tone so no one else but the Genin 12 could hear.

"I noticed but thought I was seeing things to be honest." Neji said softly.

"Shinigami told me it is because he has gotten even stronger. But it is not a different sword, it is the same one but it just grew in size." Naruto said.

"You mean that depending on the size of Shinigami-San's sword shows how strong he is?" Sakura asked.

"Pretty much. I do not know how it is possible but that is what I got told."

As Shinigami was about to make his way out he suddenly felt a strong pressure on him. He had a slight difficulty in breathing but he noticed the pressure was not strong enough to make him drop to his knees. _"Is this Killing Intent?"_

"**It is Spiritual Pressure also known as Reiatsu. It is very similar to Killing Intent but it uses Spiritual Power or Reiryoku. But this feels…wrong."** The Spirit said.

"_Wrong how?"_

"**It feels like a Hollow. But…" **The Spirit was cut off as a second Hollow attacked. Shinigami managed to dodge the attack in time and land a fair distance away from the Hollow to try and read what it can do.

"**The Protector shows himself, and also my prey." **The Hollow was built like a Tiger but had hands for front paws instead. Its mask resembled that of a bird of prey of some kind as well as having a fire like design around the mouth of the mask.

Shinigami looked at the hollow before he suddenly felt the Pressure again but this time with more force pushing him down to one knee. He tried to stand up again but failed to see the Hollow strike him hard in the stomach sending him towards the wall hard enough to leave cracks on the surface.

"**Interesting ability I have. I am able to control my Spiritual Pressure like a normal Soul Reaper!" **Shinigami struggled to get to his feet before stumbling slightly as the Hollow closed in on him.

"You can…" Shinigami suddenly felt a presents on his back before feeling something grip his throat. _"I can feel something grabbing my throat like claws but there is nothing there"_

"**Time to die!" **The Hollow charged at him but suddenly flew back from a kick. As the Hollow looked up he saw another Shinigami and the one he was about to kill disappear. **"How?"**

"Nice trick you have, but Spiritual Pressure and Killing Intent are similar. You just have to know how to get around it." Shinigami raised his blade into an attack stance as the mask showed off a smile.

"**You will not stop me from getting revenge Soul Reaper!" **The Hollow used his Spiritual Pressure again to try and freeze Shinigami but he moved quickly and tried to strike at the Head of the Hollow but was attacked by the tail of the Hollow which had a spike on it that just missed impaling him but did slash his left upper arm.

"What do you mean?" Shinigami hid the pain he felt from the cut as he landed and stood up again.

"**It is simple. I want to devour Naruto for killing me in the orphanage."**

Shinigami looked shocked but hid his reaction well enough to hide who he was as Naruto looked visibly shaken and scared. The candidates had moved towards the Jōnin and the Hokage but all of them had seen Naruto's reaction. "It…it c…can't be. Hiroshi?"

"**So you finally clicked. I have been given a chance to get my revenge and I will not die until I have achieved it!"**

Hiroshi extended his tail towards Naruto as he was still frozen by fear. The rest of the Genin 12 had drawn Kunai and Shuriken and threw them at the tail to try and slow it down. When it did not they all stood their ground but some noticed Neji was acting strange. The Tail was about to strike Sakura when it struck someone else. When Sakura finally looked after feeling no pain she looked in horror to see Shinigami facing her and had taken the spike right through his right shoulder.

"Damn it. I did not think to block with my blade. Are you alright Sakura?" As he finished speaking some blood came down the mouth of his mask and dropped onto the floor.

"Why?"

"Because all of you are important to Naruto, which means all of you are important to me as well." Shinigami suddenly screamed as the spike was roughly pulled out of his shoulder by Hiroshi and dropped to his knees.

"**You can't win Soul Reaper. I will get my revenge!"**

"That is where you are wrong." Shinigami said as he stood up ignoring the pain and faced Hiroshi. "I am going to beat you and do you know why?" Hiroshi narrowed his eyes at Shinigami before he spoke again. "I learned not long ago that my blade has a soul in it. And I am not going to die before I learn his name." Shinigami finished with a smile as he somehow had enough strength to hold his blade in an attack stance.

"**Then one of us will die here today."** Hiroshi glared before standing on his two back legs and his tail acted more like a scorpions as the spike was above his head ready to strike when needed.

* * *

That is this chapter finally done with. Well it is Day 6 on the Canal Barge and we are nearly back to the start which means the holiday is over. And the second day was hell because we did 41 locks in 8 hours. My legs became dead weight. I am sorry it took me so long to post this chapter but here it is now.

Here are the reviewer responses:

OBSERVER01: Short? Maybe to some stories but the chapters are actually getting longer with each chapter. (This one is over 8,500 words lol) but I think you mean keep it up afterwards though I am not sure. Thanks anyway.

The-lazy-bum: Thank you for saying that.

Sang28: What grammar errors do you see? I have checked and I don't see any. Also I think someone said Kon is in trouble if he appears and tries to go to Tsunade. (Btw that is how you spell Tsunade just so you know lol)

Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: Thank you and always like it when I get a review from you. And will anyone else be a Soul Reaper? I am not sure to be honest. Though some of the other questions I hope got answered in this chapter.

AlucardBahamut: I had a nice chat with you over messages as it was fun talking to you and I am hoping you will review again.

Garuda 1 Talisman: Well I think you will not have to wait that long as my mind is running on overtime now lol.

stormingnight: Thank you for saying so.

swimmingintears: Orochimaru is still a major villain in this story but yes you will be seeing other Characters from Bleach but I am not sure how soon.

FSRally: It is because I had writers block which is always a pain lol.

Anyway guys I will try to update my other stories as well as this one more frequently. I promise.

Until next time

Reven of Darkness


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